JPS644530Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thermal printer that performs printing while changing the relative position between printing paper and a thermal head.

In conventional printing methods, a thermal head is moved sequentially relative to the printing paper, and the ink applied to the transfer material is transferred onto the printing paper by the thermal head. Since power limiting mechanisms such as clutches and friction clutches are used, the mechanism becomes very complicated, which is a major cause of reduced reliability and durability.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer that can perform clear printing by strictly synchronizing the movement of a transfer material with the movement of a thermal head during printing.

Another purpose of the present invention is to control printing timing and drive and wind up the transfer material by electrical control without using power transmission mechanisms, one-way clutches, friction clutches, or other power-limiting mechanisms, thereby achieving high reliability. An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer having a transfer material driving device that is stable and has excellent durability.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view illustrating one embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a platen, which is fixed. 2 is printing paper. Reference numeral 3 denotes a transfer tape, which is made of a transfer material coated with heat-melting ink. A thermal head 4 presses the platen 1 through the transfer tape 3 and printing paper 2 by the force of a spring 5.
A driving roller 6 drives the tension belt 7 and the transfer tape 3. 8,9
is a free roller on which the tension belt 7 is applied. 10 is a supply reel for supplying the transfer tape 3, and 11 is a take-up reel for winding up the transfer tape 3. Both the supply reel 10 and the take-up reel 11 are in pressure contact with the tension belt 7 and are driven by the tension belt 7. 12 and 13 are guide rollers,
It guides the transfer tape supplied from the supply reel 10 and the transfer tape wound onto the take-up reel 11. Reference numeral 14 denotes a carriage, on which the above-mentioned components except the above-mentioned platen 1 and printing paper 2 are mounted. Reference numeral 15 denotes a drive belt, which is stretched parallel to the platen 1 and has its own teeth. A servo motor 16 rotates a gear 17. The gear 17 meshes with the teeth of the drive belt 15, and the drive belt 15 is rotated by the drive of the servo motor 16. The carriage 14 is driven parallel to the platen 1 by a drive belt 15. The drive roller 6 is connected to a pulse motor 18 and driven by the pulse motor 18, as shown in FIG. 2, which is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

Reference numerals 19 and 20 indicate rotation detectors, each of which is attached to the rotating shaft of the servo motor 16, and which is connected to the carriage 14.
The moving position of the servo motor 16 is detected by the rotation of the servo motor 16, and position information is output. The rotation detectors 19 and 20 are used to control the printing position of uppercase letters on one side and lowercase letters on the other hand, with rotation detector 19 used to control uppercase letters and rotation detector 20 used to control lowercase letters. A control circuit 21 generates a pulse signal to be applied to the pulse motor 18 based on position information obtained from the rotation detector 19. A control circuit 22 applies a voltage to drive the servo motor 16 based on the print command P. Further, the control circuit 22 switches the switch 23 based on the size information SIZE. 23
The position information of the rotation detectors 19 and 20 is switched by a switch and is derived as a print timing signal of the thermal head 4.

The operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be explained.

In order to move the thermal head 4 according to the printing command P, voltage is applied to the servo motor 16 in the control circuit 22.
The rotation of the servo motor 16 moves the carriage 14 and thermal head 4 parallel to the platen 1 through the directly connected gear 17 and drive belt 15, and prints while the position of the carriage 14 is detected by the rotation detector 19. Do this. Further, a pulse is applied to the pulse motor 18 based on the position detection from the rotation detector 19, and the pulse motor 18 rotates, rotating the directly connected drive roller 6, and tightening the tension belt 7.
to drive. The take-up reel 11 and supply reel 10 that are in contact with the tension belt 7 are also rotated, and the transfer tape 3 is transferred from the supply reel 10 to the take-up reel 11 via the tape guide roller 12, thermal head 4, and tape guide roller 13. Then, it is wound up in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 14. The tension belt 7 has appropriate elasticity and is attached to the take-up reel 1.
1. It is set to apply an appropriate rotational force to the transfer tape on the supply reel 10. Therefore, the carriage 1
Even though 4 is moving, the transfer tape 3
does not have much relative speed with the printing paper 2, and the thermal head 4 prints clearly. ), when the thermal head 4 is switched to "lower case" (the size is switched by selecting a dot on the head), the position detection pulse for printing is sent to the rotation detector 19 as shown in Figure 2. The rotation detector 20 with the shortest position detection interval is used. However, if the pulse is supplied to the pulse motor 18 and the thermal transfer tape 3 is driven by the drive roller 6, the transfer tape 3 and the printing paper 2 do not have a relative speed due to the pulse at the timing of the rotation detector 19. Since it was in a stationary state, the synchronization state is lost, and a phenomenon occurs in which the transfer tape 3 and the printing paper 2 become misaligned during printing, and clear printing cannot be performed. Therefore, in this case, apart from the switching circuit, as shown in FIG. 2, even if the rotation detector that obtains the print position signal changes from 19 to 20, the thermal transfer tape 3 is driven and wound. The position signal from the previous rotation detector 19 is supplied to the pulse motor 18, and the movements of the transfer tape 3 and the carriage 14 are synchronized, and the transfer tape 3 and the printing paper 2 are kept stationary without relative speed. Set so that clear printing can be performed. When the carriage 14 returns to the printing start direction due to the reverse rotation of the servo motor 16,
No drive pulses are supplied to the pulse motor 18, so the drive roller 6 does not rotate and the transfer tape 3
remains stationary, and as the thermal head 4 separates from the printing paper 2, it returns to the standby position without rubbing. In this way, conventional mechanical mechanisms such as one-way clutches and friction clutches were used to convert the left and right movement of the carriage into forward and reverse rotation, and the transfer tape drive, winding, and tension mechanism was used to extract rotation in only one direction. It was constructed with a single pulse motor and a belt, greatly simplifying the mechanism, and placing it under electrical control.

As explained above, according to the present invention, even if there is a change in the print position signal due to uppercase letters, lowercase letters, etc., only the print position signal applied to the thermal head is switched, and the fixed position signal is used to drive the transfer material. This makes it possible to drive, feed, and wind up the transfer material in complete synchronization with the carriage using electrical control, providing a highly reliable, stable, and durable thermal printer. I can do it.

That is, according to the present invention, by having separate motors for moving the carriage and for driving the transfer material winding means, high reliability can be achieved without using a special power control limiting mechanism. ,
It is possible to provide a thermal printer that is stable and has excellent durability. In particular, the present invention controls the recording timing when the thermal head records an image of the first size, and also drives the transfer material winding means using the first position signal emitted from the first position detecting means. It also controls the motor of
In other words, since this first position signal is also used, it is possible not only to wind up the transfer material at a speed corresponding to the moving speed of the carriage, but also to realize simpler control.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1. 23... Switch, 19, 20... Rotation detector.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A thermal printer that transfers ink from a transfer material containing ink to printing paper and records on the printing paper, in which the size of the recorded image can be changed by selecting a dot. a carriage that supports the thermal head and is movable along the printing paper so that the thermal head slides over the transfer material in contact with the printing paper for recording; a motor for moving the transfer material; a supply member for supplying the transfer material; and a supply member for supplying the transfer material, which is sequentially supplied from the supply member and transferred to the printing paper by receiving heat from the thermal head. a transfer material winding means for winding up the transfer material; a motor for driving the transfer material winding means; and a first
a first position detecting means for generating a first position signal for controlling recording timing for recording an image of a different size; a second position detection means for generating a second position signal for controlling the recording timing for recording an image of the size; The carriage comprises: a motor for driving a material winding means; and a control means for receiving the first position signal and the second position signal and controlling the recording timing of the thermal head. A thermal printer characterized in that the transfer material is wound up at a speed corresponding to a moving speed of the thermal printer.