JPS629034B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer that prints by melting heat-melting ink of a transfer material using a thermal head and transferring it onto printing paper.

In the conventional serial type thermal printing method, the problem of adhesion between the thermal head and the thermal paper has been solved through many years of efforts, and there is no problem even if the thermal head immediately returns to the printing starting direction after printing is completed. Nakatsuta. However, in the thermal transfer printing method, in which a thermal head prints on plain paper by sandwiching a transfer material such as transfer tape instead of thermal paper, the problem of adhesion between the transfer tape and the recording paper is also solved. The transfer tape and recording paper remain sticky even after printing is completed. Note that this kind of adhesive requires a great deal of force to peel off even if you pull the adhesive transfer tape in the direction of head movement, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the adhesive. It is possible to peel it off. In order to remove such adhesion, it is possible to use mechanical force to remove the adhesion, but the mechanism becomes complicated and stable operation cannot be expected, which is the biggest problem with the thermal transfer method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides a printer that can automatically and smoothly separate a transfer material and a recording material at a recording end point.

In order to achieve the above object, the embodiment described below is a printer that sequentially drives a thermal head and presses the thermal head against a platen through a printing paper and a transfer material to perform printing. The apparatus includes a control means for moving the relative position of the thermal head and the printing paper further than the relative position at the end of printing in order to separate the transfer material stuck to the paper from the printing paper.

Note that in the same field of thermal printers as the present invention, a technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 48-97545 is already known, and the present invention is a further development of this technique. Furthermore, in the field of impact or inkjet,
The techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 29531 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-34332 are already known. However, these do not solve the problem in the technical field of thermal printers that the transfer material and the recording material must be separated at the recording end point.

The embodiments described below relate to a printer that prints by melting heat-melting ink on a transfer material using a thermal head and transferring it onto printing paper. In a printing method in which printing is performed by pressing the thermal head through a printer, the relative position between the thermal head and the printing paper is printed in order to separate the transfer material that has adhered to the printing paper from the printing paper. The present invention provides a printer that can be moved further than the relative end position. moreover,
In a printing method in which a thermal head is sequentially moved and printing is performed by pressing the thermal head against a platen via a printing paper and a transfer material, the transfer material that has adhered to the printing paper due to printing is removed from the printing paper. The present invention provides a printer that controls the thermal head to return to the print start position after the thermal head is moved further from the print end position in order to separate from the print head. In this embodiment, in order to separate the transfer material that has adhered to the printing paper during printing from the printing paper, the relative position between the thermal head and the printing paper can be moved further than the relative position at the end of printing. This is a printer with an elongated platen.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a thermal head of a printing head, which generates heat at a predetermined position on the head in accordance with the character pattern to be printed. Reference numeral 2 denotes a transfer tape, which is made of a transfer material coated with heat-melting ink. Reference numeral 3 is a printing paper, which is printed on transfer tape 2 in response to a thermal pattern corresponding to the character pattern of thermal head 1.
A predetermined portion of the image is melted and transferred onto the printing paper 3. 4
is a platen, which is set to be long in order to separate the printing paper 3 and the transfer tape 2, as will be described later.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a carriage, on which the thermal head 1 is mounted and slidably engaged on a shaft 6 disposed parallel to the platen 4. The carriage 5 can be moved left and right on a shaft 6 by belts 7a and 7b stretched in the left and right directions. Reference numerals 8a and 8b are tape guide pins that guide the transfer tape 2 in the direction of movement of the thermal head 1 in order to improve the separation between the print paper 3 and the transfer tape 2.
are arranged so that the discharge direction is at a predetermined angle. A mark 9 indicates the print dot position of the thermal head 1. In this example, it is formed on the upper surface of the thermal head 1.

Next, a control circuit for driving the thermal head 1 will be shown. FIG. 3 shows the control circuit. FF is a flip-flop which is set by the print signal and outputs an "H" signal from terminal Q. G is and gate,
Input the print signal, clock pulse CP and output of terminal Q. CNT is a counter that counts the clock pulses CP that have passed through the AND gate G, and outputs a counter output when a predetermined number of clock pulses are counted. This counter is used as a timer-like element. The counter output of counter CNT is a flip-flop
Applied to reset terminal R of FF. The output of flip-flop Q is connected to motor M via amplifier AMP.
is applied to. Motor M has belts 7a and 7b
The thermal head 1 is connected to and moves the thermal head 1 from left to right.

The operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described. When printing control starts, the thermal head 1 prints while pressing the transfer tape 2 and the recording paper 3 against the fixed platen 4. The specific printing method is the same as the thermal printing method. Further, a print signal is applied to flip-flop FF, and motor M is driven by an H signal from terminal Q of flip-flop FF. The drive belts 7a and 7b are moved by the drive of the motor M, and the carriage 7 on which the thermal head 1 is mounted is moved.
slides on the shaft 5 and moves parallel to the platen 4.

On the other hand, the thermal head 1 prints while pressing the transfer tape 2 against the recording paper 3 and platen 4.
At this time, the transfer tape 2 and recording paper 3 are stationary, and only the thermal head 1 moves at a constant speed. In order to minimize the adhesive area between the transfer tape 2 and the recording paper 3, the tape guide pins 8a and 8b provided on both sides of the thermal head 1 keep the transfer tape 2 away from the recording paper 3 except for the pressure-contact area of the thermal head 1. I'll keep it. However, as shown in FIG. 2, there is a position immediately before the printed dot position mark and the tape guide pin, that is, a length l of the adhesive portion. Therefore, when the thermal head 1 immediately begins to return to the printing start direction at the printing end point A shown in FIG. This causes the recording paper 3 and transfer tape 2 to twist as the thermal head 1 moves, causing them to break.

Then, from the printing end point A to the point B, which is the length l of the adhesive part, print the printing dot position mark 9.
In order to move the print signal and flip-flop
The AND gate G is opened by the H signal of the output Q of the FF, and the clock pulse CP is input to the counter CNT. Counter CNT receives clock pulse CP,
It counts clock pulses and generates a counter output after counting a predetermined clock pulse. The thermal head 1 is moved to point B during the time obtained by the counting operation of the counter CNT. The flip-flop FF is set by the counter output.
By resetting the motor M, the drive of the motor M is stopped. Therefore, the adhesive part can be removed. After this operation is completed, if the thermal head 1 is returned to the printing start direction by means not shown,
There is no problem with either the recording paper 3 or the transfer tape 2, but since the thermal head 1 is pressed against the platen 4, if the platen 4 does not cover the range of movement of the thermal head 1, the thermal head 1 will move over the platen 4. Otherwise, the thermal head 1 or other drive mechanism (for example, the drive belt 6) may be damaged. Therefore, the length of the platen 4 is made long for the above-mentioned reason, and the thermal head 1 is
After overrunning the distance to peel off the adhesive part, that is, point B, it enters the return process in the opposite direction and waits at the printing start position.

In the above embodiments, an example was shown in which the thermal head moves relative to the platen, but a type in which the thermal head is fixed and the platen moves can be constructed in exactly the same way. Further, no matter where the printing end point A is located on the printing paper, the thermal head 1 passes the point A, scans for a while, and then scans in the opposite direction.

In this way, in this embodiment, in order to solve the problem of stickiness peculiar to transfer thermal printers,
As the normal printing operation is repeated, the movement range of the thermal head is widened, and no other mechanical mechanism is required, and adhesion can be removed with simple and reliable operation. Therefore, a thermal transfer printer with stable operation and high durability can be provided, and its effects are very large.

As described above, the present invention provides a printer that can automatically and smoothly separate a transfer material and a recording material at the recording end point.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a top view shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control circuit diagram. In the figure, 1... thermal head, 2... transfer tape, 3... printing paper, 4... platen, 5...
...carriage, 6...shaft, 7a, 7b...belt, 8a, 8b...tape guide pin, 9...mark, FF...flip-flop, CP...clock pulse, AMP...amplifier, M...motor,
CNT...Counter, G...And gate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a printer that transfers ink from a transfer material to a recording material and performs recording on the recording material, in order to transfer ink from the transfer material to the recording material and perform recording on the recording material. a heating element that heats the transfer material in contact with the recording material; and a heating element provided a predetermined distance upstream in the recording direction from a position where the heating element is disposed, the heating element separating the transfer material from the recording material. a separating section for separating the transfer material from the recording material after recording using tension applied to the transfer material in the direction; the separating section and the heating element; the recording material and the transfer material; a moving means for relatively moving the separating section and the heating element, and the recording material and the transfer material in contact with each other, the moving means being driven based on a signal for relatively moving the recording material and the transfer material for recording. and counts the period of further relative movement by a predetermined amount from the end point of the relative movement for recording, drives the moving means based on the count value, and moves the recording after recording via the separating section. a first control means for controlling the driving of the moving means to be stopped after separating the transfer material from the transfer material; A printer comprising: second control means for controlling the recording material to move relative to the recording material in a recording start direction.