JPH1052927A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which has a mechanism for radiating accumulated heat of a thermal heat thereby to obtain good record results. SOLUTION: The printer has a platen, a carriage 4 movable to reciprocate along the platen, a thermal head 7 loaded on the carriage 4 to be close to and away from the platen via a paper, a fan 9 for feeding air to radiate accumulated heat of the thermal head 7, thermistors 8A, 8B for detecting a recording environment temperature and a control part for controlling a recording operation based on detected results of the thermistors 8A, 8B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printer, and more particularly to a thermal printer suitable for performing recording using a thermal sublimation ink as an ink of an ink film when performing thermal transfer recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a thermal printer (hereinafter, referred to as a thermal transfer printer) that performs recording by a thermal transfer system supports a sheet in front of a platen and has a carriage.
Equipped with a thermal head with multiple heating elements formed,
Between the thermal head and the platen, an ink ribbon as an example of an ink film obtained by applying a desired ink to a base film and the paper are sandwiched, and the ink is moved while moving the thermal head along with the platen along with the carriage. The ink of the ink ribbon is partially transferred to paper by feeding out a ribbon and selectively applying a current of energy to the plurality of heating elements of the thermal head based on recording information to selectively heat the heating elements. Then, an image such as a desired character is recorded on a sheet. Such thermal transfer printers are frequently used as output devices such as computers and word processors because of high recording quality, low noise, low cost, and ease of maintenance.

[0003] As a conventional thermal transfer printer, recording is performed on paper using an ink ribbon (hereinafter, referred to as a hot-melt ink ribbon) in which a hot-melt ink is applied to a base film such as a plastic film. In addition to the above, there is also known an apparatus in which recording is performed on paper using an ink ribbon in which a heat sublimable ink is applied to a base film (hereinafter, referred to as a heat sublimable ink ribbon).

Among these, a thermal transfer printer (hereinafter, referred to as a hot-melt printer) that performs recording on paper using a hot-melt ink ribbon can record on a wide variety of paper such as plain paper, cardboard, and postcards. It is easy to use and excellent. In order to perform gradation recording using this heat-meltable ink ribbon, a dither method or the like has been used because density gradation of one dot cannot be performed.

On the other hand, in a thermal transfer printer (hereinafter, referred to as a thermal sublimation type printer) which performs recording on paper using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon, the thermal sublimation is controlled by controlling the energy applied to a thermal head. Because the amount of ink transferred to the ink paper can be controlled by adjusting the sublimation amount of the ink, and the density of the recorded image on the paper can be adjusted,
By using a special paper subjected to a surface treatment as a paper, a high-quality full-color recorded image comparable to a silver halide photograph can be obtained. For this reason, thermal sublimation printers have recently been widely used as high-quality video printers and the like.

In general, when a high-density recorded image is obtained in a thermal sublimation type printer, the energy applied to the heat generating element of the thermal head needs to be several times the energy applied to the heat melting type printer. .

[0007]

In such a case where a large recording energy is required, when a plurality of sheets are continuously recorded, immediately after the start of recording, a sufficient amount of recording energy is supplied and the recording is performed by the thermal head. There is a difference in the degree of sublimation of the ink of the ink ribbon from the recording immediately before the end, and the recording density may be different.

Immediately after printing is completed due to sufficient storage of printing energy, ink on the ink ribbon is erroneously transferred to an area other than the original printing area due to energy (heat storage) remaining in the thermal head. In some cases, causing recording stains.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a printer having a mechanism for radiating heat stored in a thermal head and capable of obtaining good recording results. is there.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal printer including a platen, a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen, and a carriage mounted on the carriage. A thermal head disposed so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the platen via a sheet, a fan for blowing air to release heat stored in the thermal head, at least one thermistor for detecting a recording environment temperature, and the thermistor And a control unit for controlling the recording operation based on the detection result.

In this thermal printer, a recording environment temperature is detected by the thermistor, and when this temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the control section performs a recording operation while radiating heat stored in the thermal head by the control section. Is controlled as follows.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the thermal printer according to the first aspect, wherein the control unit temporarily suspends a recording operation and moves the carriage to a position near the fan so as to move the thermal head. After the heat is released, the recording operation is controlled to start again.

In the thermal printer, the recording environment temperature is detected by the thermistor, and when the temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, a recording operation is performed by the control unit in order to release heat stored in the thermal head. At the same time, the carriage is moved to the vicinity of the fan, and the thermal head is applied to the wind generated by the rotation of the fan to dissipate the heat stored in the thermal head, and the recording operation is started again when the heat dissipation is completed. Is what you do.

The thermal printer according to claim 3 is
3. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein a ribbon cassette is mounted on the carriage, and the controller is configured to perform a first recording mode in which recording is performed by thermal fusion transfer using a thermal fusion ink ribbon. 4. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the recording mode is a second recording mode in which recording is performed by thermal sublimation transfer using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon, and recording control based on the recording mode is performed.

In this thermal printer, the rotational speed of the fan is changed based on the recording mode, and the thermal head is controlled so as to effectively radiate the heat stored therein. Specifically, when it is determined that the recording mode is the thermal sublimation transfer mode, the set temperature of the thermistor is set to be higher than that in the recording mode by the thermal fusion transfer, and the rotation speed is set so that the amount of air blown by the fan is increased. Control a lot.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which both types of ink ribbons, a thermal sublimation ink ribbon and a hot-melt ink ribbon, can be selectively used. The embodiment shown in FIG. In the thermal transfer printer 1, a flat platen 2 is disposed at a desired position of a frame (not shown) so that its recording surface 2a is substantially vertical. A guide shaft 3 is provided in parallel with the platen 2. And the guide shaft 3
A carriage 4 which is divided into upper and lower parts is attached to an appropriate position of the carriage.
A lower carriage attached to the guide shaft 3,
The other carriage 4b shown above is an upper carriage to which a ribbon cassette 5 to be described later is attached and which can be vertically moved toward and away from the lower carriage 4a.

The carriage 4 is provided with a drive motor 6a such as a stepping motor 36, which will be described later, and a suitable drive belt 6 wound around a pair of pulleys (not shown).
To reciprocate along the guide shaft 3. The carriage 4 is controlled by a control unit 25 described later by the carriage motor 36.
a by controlling the rotation speed of a
Either one of the moving speeds of the stages can be selected.

The carriage 4 can be brought into and out of contact with the platen 2 by a well-known head moving mechanism (both not shown) which is opposed to the platen 2 and can be operated by a driving force of a driving motor with respect to the platen 2. A thermal head 7 for recording on a sheet (not shown) on the platen 2 in a pressure-contact state (head-down state) in contact with the thermal head 7 is provided. The thermal head 7 has a plurality of heating elements (not shown) arranged and arranged to selectively generate heat based on desired recording information input by an appropriate input device (not shown) such as a keyboard. It has. The thermal head 7 is controlled by a control unit 35 described later.
The pressing force on the platen 2 can be selected from either strong pressing or weak pressing, and the thermal head 7
One of two stages of large and small heat energy (specifically, two stages of a long time and a short period of time for energizing the heating element) can be selected. A thermistor 8A for detecting the temperature of the thermal head 7 is provided near the thermal head 7. In addition to the thermistor 8A for detecting the temperature of the thermal head, the thermistor 8 also includes a thermistor 1B for detecting the temperature inside the main body 1A in the main body 1A of the thermal transfer printer 1. And these thermistors 8A and 8B
Is connected to a control unit 35, which will be described later, which controls the recording operation and the like of the thermal transfer printer 1 disposed at a desired position of the thermal transfer printer 1.

Next, the carriage 4 will be described in more detail. The carriage 4 has a plate-like upper carriage 4b which is substantially parallel to the upper surface of a lower carriage 4a attached to the guide shaft 3. 4a is attached so as to be freely movable in parallel so as to come into contact with and separate from the base 4a. This parallel crank mechanism 1
As shown in FIG.
A pair of links 19 provided in pairs and crossing each other in an X shape
a, 19b, and these links 19a, 19b
b is pivoted by the pin 20a and the link 19
a, 19b are pins 20b, 20c, 20d, 20
e, elongate holes (not shown) formed at the upper end portions on the left and right sides of the lower carriage 4a and the upper carriage 4b, respectively.
Is slidably locked at

The lower carriage 4a is provided with a rotary crank mechanism 21. The rotary crank mechanism 21 operates to move the upper carriage 4b in parallel. This rotary crank mechanism 21
A rotating plate 22 serving as a rotating member rotatably supported by the lower carriage 4a; and a connecting link 24 serving as a connecting member pivotally connected to the eccentric position of the rotating plate 22 by a pin 23a. The tip of 24 is pivotally connected to the upper carriage 4b by a pin 23b.
The rotating plate 22 is driven to rotate by an appropriate driving means (not shown) such as a motor.

Returning to FIG. 1, a plate-like arm is formed on each of the right and left sides of the upper carriage 4b as an engaging portion 25a having a tip gently curved inward and a projection formed at the upper and lower ends. Reference numerals 25 stand upright at intervals substantially equal to the width of the ribbon cassette 5. At the center of the upper carriage 4b, a pair of rotatable bobbins 26 are disposed at predetermined intervals from each other so as to protrude upward.
The bobbin 26 allows the ink ribbon 27 to travel in a predetermined direction. One of the pair of bobbins 26 is a winding bobbin 26 a for winding the ink ribbon 27, and the other is a sending bobbin 26 for sending the ink ribbon 27.
b. On the edge of the carriage 4 farther from the platen 2, an optical sensor 28 a is provided as a sensor 28 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5. This optical sensor 2
In this embodiment, a reflection type is used as 8a. Then, the optical sensor 28a is connected to a control unit 35 described later provided at a desired position of the thermal transfer printer 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, above the carriage 4, there is provided a substantially plate which is supported by a frame (not shown) at an appropriate interval so as to be openable and closable as shown by a double-headed arrow A in FIG. A canopy 29 is provided. The canopy 29 functions as a paper presser on the exit side of a paper feeding mechanism (not shown) in the closed state, and is disposed so as to face the carriage 4. The length is almost the same.

A plurality of cassette holders (not shown) for holding the ribbon cassette 5 are provided at predetermined positions on a lower surface of the canopy 29 which faces the carriage 4 in parallel. In the embodiment, a ribbon cassette 5a in which an ink ribbon (heat-meltable ink ribbon) 27a coated with a heat-meltable ink is housed, and an ink ribbon (heat-sublimable ink ribbon) coated with a heat-sublimable ink. The ribbon cassette 5b in which the cartridge 27b is housed is arranged in a line in the moving direction of the carriage 4. Then, each of the ribbon cassettes 5a and 5b is, as shown by a double-headed arrow B in FIG.
The canopy 29 and the upper carriage 4b are operated by the operation of the parallel crank mechanism 18 operating with the rotary crank mechanism 21.
Delivery is selectively performed between and. The cassette holder may hold a ribbon cassette 5a containing the heat-meltable ink ribbon 27a or a ribbon cassette 5b containing the heat-sublimable ink ribbon 27b.

Each ribbon cassette 5a, 5b of this embodiment
Regardless of the type of the ink ribbon 27, all are formed in the same shape and the same size, and are rotatably supported by a pair (not shown) rotatably supported in a case body 30 having a pair of upper and lower planes and a substantially rectangular plane. , A pair of rotatably supported ribbon feed rollers, a plurality of guide rollers facing the rotatably supported ribbon path, and the like. The ink ribbon 27 is wound between a pair of reels, and an intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 27 is led out. When the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the upper carriage 4b, one of the pair of reels is a take-up reel for winding the ink ribbon 27 of a portion used for recording, and the other is to send out the ink ribbon. It is a sending reel. On the inner peripheral surface of each reel, a plurality of key grooves are formed in a spline shape at intervals in the circumferential direction, and the inner peripheral surface of the take-up reel is formed by the winding bobbin 26a.
Is formed into a take-up hole 31a in which the delivery bobbin 26b is engaged.
It has been. The carriage 4 of the ribbon cassette 5
A concave portion 32 facing the thermal head 7 is formed on the surface facing the platen 2 in a state where the ink ribbon 27 is mounted on the intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 27.

An identification mark 33 for discriminating the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in each ribbon cassette 5 is provided on the rear surface of the ribbon cassette 5 extending parallel to the surface on which the recess 32 is formed. Are located. The identification mark 33 of the present embodiment is a reflective seal 3 having a different number of striped non-reflective portions 34a depending on the type of the ink ribbon 27.
4.

The identification mark 33 is provided on the carriage 4 as an optical sensor 28 as a cassette type detecting means.
a, and outputs the detection signal to the control unit 3 of the printer.
5 and counts the number of the identification marks 33 in each ribbon cassette 5 in the control unit 35, so that the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5 is counted.
Is determined.

That is, in the ribbon cassette 5a shown on the left side in FIG. 1, a reflective seal 34A having four non-reflection portions 34a is arranged as the identification mark 33, and the ribbon cassette 5b shown on the right side in FIG. , A reflective seal 34 </ b> B having two non-reflective portions 34 a is arranged as the identification mark 33. And the ribbon cassette 5
In FIG. 1, the left end of the rear surface shown on the near side is a reference position BP for detecting the identification mark 33 and the identification mark 3
3, the distance L to the right end face of the non-reflective portion 34a located at the right end is the same for all the identification marks 33, and a desired distance L for identifying the type of the ink ribbon 27 within this distance L. The non-reflection part 34a is formed. The identification mark 33 can identify the color of the ink ribbon 27 as well as the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5. The carriage 4 can be stopped when the optical sensor 28a detects the identification mark 33 to be used. When the carriage 4 is stopped, the ribbon cassette 5 stored in the cassette holder is moved to the upper carriage 4
b.

The identification mark 33 may be printed on the ribbon cassette 5, and is not particularly limited to the configuration of the present embodiment.

The lower carriage 4a, which is reciprocally movable along the platen 2, has a stepping motor 36 for moving the thermal head 7 toward and away from the platen 2, and the ink ribbon. A stepping motor 36 (hereinafter, referred to as a ribbon take-up motor 36b) for take-up control is provided to transmit power to the thermal head 7 and the take-up bobbin 26a via a transmission gear (not shown). It has become.

Further, the thermal transfer printer 1 of the present embodiment
As shown in the front view of FIG. 4A, the left side view of FIG. 4B, and the internal transmission plan view of FIG.
A heat-dissipating fan (hereinafter, referred to as a heat-dissipating fan) 9 is provided on a surface which is one side of the platen 2 in the disposing direction of the platen 2.
Are formed. The radiating fan 9 takes in the external air of the thermal transfer printer main body 1A into the main body 1A as the radiating air of the thermal head 7. The heat radiating fan 9 is driven by a motor (not shown) formed on the heat radiating fan 9, and the motor is connected to a control unit 35 of the thermal transfer printer 1, and its driving is controlled by the control unit 35. I have. The disposition position of the radiation fan 9 is not limited to the disposition position of the present embodiment.

The control unit 35 includes a memory (not shown)
As shown in FIG. 5, based on a mode signal sent from a mode changeover switch 37 disposed at a desired position of a frame (not shown), at least a heat-meltable ink ribbon is formed. A mode for discriminating between a first recording mode in which recording is performed on a sheet of paper such as plain paper by using the thermal sublimation 27a and a second recording mode in which recording is performed by sublimation transfer to a special paper using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon 27b. The rotation speed of the carriage motor 36a and the ribbon take-up motor 36b, the energizing time to the thermal head 7, the pressing force of the thermal head 7 against the platen 2, the ribbon cassette 5, A first recording mode control unit 39 and a second recording mode control unit 40 for controlling the recording mode to correspond to each mode. .

Here, in the control by the first recording mode control unit 39 and the second recording mode control unit 40, the rotation speed of the carriage 4 and the ribbon winding motor 36b is changed between the first recording mode and the second recording mode. Change.

That is, in the first recording mode, since the recording is performed using the heat-meltable ink ribbon 27a, the rotation speed of the winding motor is set to be slightly higher than the moving speed (recording speed) of the carriage. While the ink of the hot-melt ink ribbon 27a is in a molten state, control is performed so as to perform hot separation in which the ink ribbon 27a is separated from paper.

In the second recording mode, recording is performed using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon 27b. Therefore, the rotational speed of the winding motor is made slower than the moving speed (recording speed) of the carriage, and this thermal Sublimation ink ribbon 27
After the ink b is solidified, the ink ribbon 27b is controlled to be peeled off at a cold time to be peeled from the paper.

Further, the control unit 35 includes the carriage 4
The presence or absence of the ribbon cassette 5, the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5, the moving distance of the carriage 4 relative to the home position, the open / close state of the canopy 29, the ribbon The distance between the cassettes 5 is determined or detected. Further, the temperature setting of the thermistor is changed according to the determined recording mode, and the rotation speed of the radiating fan 9 is controlled by the temperature detected by the thermistor 8. It is supposed to. Specifically, when it is determined that the recording mode is the thermal sublimation transfer mode, the set temperature of the thermistor 8 is set to be higher than that in the thermal melt transfer recording mode, and the amount of air blown by the radiating fan 9 increases. Thus, control is performed so that the number of rotations increases.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

By driving the thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment,
The recording mode selection operation for selecting the recording mode so as to match the recording purpose can be performed automatically or by operating the mode changeover switch 37 by the operator.
a) a first recording mode in which recording is performed on paper such as plain paper by thermal fusion transfer using a
b. Recording by thermal sublimation transfer on special paper using b
This is performed by selecting one of the recording modes.

When a recording mode selection operation is performed, a mode signal corresponding to one of the selected modes is transmitted from the mode changeover switch 37 to the control unit 35, and the mode determination unit of the control unit 35 38 determines whether the mode signal sent from the mode changeover switch 37 is the first recording mode or the second recording mode, and selects one of the first recording mode control unit 39 and the second recording mode control unit 40 based on the determination result. By operating either of them, the selection operation of the ribbon cassette 5 containing the ink ribbon 27 having the heat-meltable ink or the heat-sublimable ink corresponding to one of the first recording mode and the second recording mode is started.

Then, the carriage 4 located at the home position is moved (runs) by a command from the control unit 35 (specifically, one of the first recording mode control unit 39 and the second recording mode control unit 40). Then, the optical sensor 28 a disposed on the carriage 4 detects the identification mark 33 of the ribbon cassette 5. And the optical sensor 28a
A unique detection signal of each identification mark 33 based on the arrangement and pitch of the non-reflection portions 34a is sent to the control unit 35, and it is determined whether or not the identification mark 33 corresponds to the instruction issued by the control unit 35. In the case of the identification mark 33 corresponding to the command, the movement of the carriage 4 is stopped. When the identification mark 33 is not the command corresponding to the command, the movement of the carriage 4 is continued until the identification mark 33 corresponding to the command is detected.

Then, the ribbon cassette 5 containing therein the ink ribbon 27 corresponding to the selected recording mode.
Are the parallel crank mechanism 18 and the rotary crank mechanism 21
As a result, as shown by a double arrow B in FIG.
9 and selectively transferred between the upper carriage 4b,
The ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the carriage 4 and the operation of selecting the ribbon cassette 5 ends.

Next, a sheet corresponding to the selected recording mode is set between the platen 2 and the thermal head 7 manually or by a sheet feeding device (not shown), and thereafter, the recording data is transferred to the thermal transfer printer. .

During the transfer of the recording data, the control unit 35 moves the carriage 4 to a position near the position where the heat radiating fan 9 is provided, and keeps the carriage 4 in a standby state. Then, when it is detected that the recording data has been transferred to the thermal transfer printer, the driving of the motor of the radiating fan 9 is controlled so that the radiating fan 9 starts rotating at a predetermined rotational speed.

While the recording operation of the thermal head 7 based on the recording data is being performed, the control unit 3
Reference numeral 5 denotes a predetermined temperature (60 ° C.) set by the thermistor 8A disposed in the vicinity of the thermal head 7 in the recording mode.
At this point, the recording operation of the thermal head 7 is temporarily interrupted, and the carriage 4 is controlled to be moved to the vicinity of the position where the heat radiating fan 9 is disposed again. During this time, the heat radiating fan 9 is driven to rotate, and the heat stored in the thermal head 7 mounted on the carriage 4 is stored by the external air for heat radiating sent into the thermal transfer printer main body 1A by the rotation of the heat radiating fan 9. Dissipate heat. Then, the thermistor 8A of the thermal head 7
The recording operation of the thermal head 7 is restarted at the time point when the preset temperature is detected.

When the recording is completed by repeating this control, the control unit 35 terminates the rotational drive of the heat radiating fan 9.

In the above embodiment, the operation timing (ON / OFF) of the radiating fan 9 can be made to correspond to the detection result of the temperature detecting thermistor 8A of the thermal head 7. That is, it is possible to perform control so that driving is started when the thermistor 8 detects a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature (for example, 30 ° C.). At the same time, the drive of the radiating fan 9 may be stopped when the thermistor 8 detects a temperature lower than a predetermined temperature. Further, instead of responding to the detection result of the thermistor 8A for detecting the temperature of the thermal head 7, it is possible to respond to the detection result of the thermistor 8B for detecting the temperature inside the main body 1A of the thermal transfer printer 1. Alternatively, control corresponding to the detection results of both thermistors 8A and 8B may be performed.

Further, in the control by the control unit 35, the amount of the radiating air blown by the radiating fan 9 (the number of rotations of the radiating fan 9) is determined by the selected recording mode, the temperature detected by the thermistor 8, and the like. It may be changed. For example, when changing the amount of heat radiation air according to the selected recording mode, the second method of performing recording by thermal sublimation transfer is used.
When the recording mode is selected, control can be performed such that the air amount is twice as large as when the first recording mode for performing recording by thermal fusion transfer is selected. Specifically, in the case of the second recording mode, 0.3 to 0.5 m ³ / mi
n, 0.2 to 0.4 m ^{3 in} the case of the first recording mode
/ Min is desirable.

According to the thermal transfer printer of this embodiment, the radiating air is blown into the thermal transfer printer 1 by driving the radiating fan 9, and the radiating air is supplied to the thermal transfer printer mounted on the carriage 4 in a standby state. By hitting the head 7, there is an effect that the heat storage amount of the thermal head 7 is reduced to about half of the conventional amount. Specifically, the thermal storage amount of the conventional thermal head 7 was 100 ° C.,
In this embodiment, the temperature is 50 ° C. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the ink of the ink ribbon 27 from being erroneously transferred to an area other than the original recording area due to the heat accumulation of the thermal head 7, thereby preventing recording stains. In order to prevent the occurrence of recording stains, it is not necessary to interrupt the recording operation and wait until the temperature of the thermal head 7 drops to a predetermined temperature, so that the time required for recording can be extremely reduced. Thus, it is possible to effectively use one thermal transfer printer capable of selectively using both types of the ink ribbons 27 of the heat sublimable ink ribbon 27b and the heat fusible ink ribbon 27a, and to improve the working efficiency. .

As described above, the heat storage of the thermal head 7 in the thermal transfer printer of the present embodiment is radiated as needed, so that the temperature control of the plurality of heating elements formed on the thermal head 7 can be stably performed. It became possible.

The thermal head 7 can maintain a state where only a certain amount of energy required for recording is stored by touching the radiating air sent by the radiating fan 9. Even in the case of continuous recording on a medium, in particular, it is possible to eliminate a problem that a change in density due to a difference in the degree of sublimation of the ink of the thermal sublimation ink ribbon 27b can be visually observed.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as needed. For example, instead of a thermal transfer printer that can selectively use both types of ink ribbons, a thermal sublimable ink ribbon and a thermal fusible ink ribbon as described above, a thermal transfer dedicated to recording by thermal sublimation transfer or thermal melt transfer. The present invention may be applied to a thermal printer of a thermal recording type that performs recording by coloring a thermal paper, or a thermal printer that combines a thermal transfer type and a thermal recording type.

[0052]

As described above, according to the thermal printer of the present invention, heat is radiated by radiating external air for radiation to the thermal head by the radiation fan, so that high-speed recording can be performed. In particular, when performing recording by thermal sublimation transfer in which it is necessary to apply high recording energy to the heating element of the head,
This produces effects such as better recording.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a thermal transfer thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a carriage of the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a main part of the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1;

4A is a schematic front view of the thermal transfer printer according to the present embodiment, FIG. 4B is a left side view thereof, and FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the thermal printer of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 2 Platen 3 Guide shaft 4 Carriage 7 Thermal head 8 Thermistor 9 Radiation fan

Claims (3)

[Claims] A platen; a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen; a thermal head mounted on the carriage and arranged to be able to contact and separate from the platen via paper; It further includes a fan for blowing air to release heat stored in the head, at least one thermistor for detecting a recording environment temperature, and a control unit for controlling a recording operation based on a detection result of the thermistor. Thermal printer. 2. The control unit temporarily suspends a recording operation, moves the carriage to a position near the fan, radiates heat from the fan by blowing air from the fan to the thermal head, and then performs recording again. 2. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to start an operation. 3. A first recording mode in which a ribbon cassette is mounted on the carriage and the control unit performs recording by thermal fusion transfer using a thermal fusible ink ribbon based on a detection result of a cassette type detection unit, or a thermal sublimation mode. 3. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein a determination is made as to a second printing mode in which printing is performed by thermal sublimation transfer using the ink ribbon, and printing control is performed based on the printing mode.