JPH0365272B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Technical field of the invention The present invention is a thermal printer (color printer)
This is related to the improvement of.

Prior Art and Problems Figure 1 shows an overview of the main parts of a thermal printer.
In the figure, 1 is a platen, 2 is a thermal head, 3 is an ink film, and 4 is paper. The platen 1 is in pressure contact with the printing section of the thermal head 2, and the printing section of the thermal head 2 is provided with a large number of heating elements arranged in a straight line in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper. During printing, the platen 1 is rotated clockwise by a drive system (not shown) to transport the paper 4 in the direction of the arrow, and at a predetermined time, a predetermined heating element is energized to dissolve the ink on the opposing ink film 3. to print. In this case, the ink film 3 also transports the paper 4 in the direction of the arrow at the same speed. When printing in this way, it is necessary to keep the paper 4 in close contact with the platen 1 for reasons such as maintaining print quality.
A pair of guide rollers 5 are rotatably provided on both sides of the printing section to press against the platen 1 via the paper 4.

In a thermal printer having such a configuration and function, it is an important issue to provide a means for facilitating the attachment and detachment of ink film, paper, etc.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention is intended to realize the above-mentioned desire.
A thermal printer (color printer) that allows you to easily attach and detach ink film, paper, etc.
is intended to provide.

Structure of the Invention In the present invention, the paper and the ink film are transferred by a platen which is pressed into contact with a thermal head provided in the machine frame, and the paper is fed in the direction opposite to the direction of the film, and the ink film is transferred to the paper and the ink film. In a color printer, the ink film is attached to and detached from the machine frame, and the color printer is configured to perform printing by transferring the ink film at the same speed as the ink film, and includes a pair of guide rollers that press the paper against the platen on both sides of the printing section. The guide roller is supported by a first support member that is rotatably supported by the machine frame, and the guide roller is supported by a first support member that is rotatably supported by the machine frame, and the guide roller is supported by a first support member that is rotatably supported by the machine frame. The platen is supported by a second support member rotatably supported by the machine frame so that the ink film is sandwiched between the guide roller and the platen, and the second support member is rotatably supported by the machine frame. The above object is achieved by providing a locking means that releasably locks the platen in a position where it is pressed into contact with the thermal head when the support member is rotated in the closing direction.

Embodiments of the Invention Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 10.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted perspective view (film magazine omitted) of a multicolor printing color thermal printer to which the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are a plan view and a side view of the film magazine. The color thermal printer has a machine frame equipped with a first support member 12 that rotatably supports a pair of guide rollers 11, a second support member 14 that rotatably supports a platen 13, various drive systems (details will be described later), etc. This is achieved by removably mounting a film magazine 16 in the interior of the film magazine 15.

The support member 12 includes a pair of arms 17 that rotatably support the pair of guide rollers 11 on both sides, and the base of the arms 17 is rotatably supported by the machine frame 15 via a support shaft 18. ing.

Further, the support member 14 includes a pair of arms 19 that rotatably support the platen 13 on both sides, and the base of the arms 19 is attached to the machine frame 15 with a support shaft 20.
It is rotatably supported through.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, the film magazine 16 stores an ink film 22 (see FIG. 4) indicated by a dotted line in a magazine body 21 so as to be able to be fed out and wound up.
1 includes a pair of side plates 23. The side plate 23 rotatably supports flanges 24, 24', 25, and 25', with the flanges 24 and 25 located near one end of the side board 23, and the flanges 24' and 25' supported near the other end of the side board 23. and are facing each other on the same axis. The flanges 24, 24' have springs 26,
The flanges 25, 25' are biased inwardly and movable in the axial direction as shown by the arrows by the flanges 26'.
One-way clutch 2 without moving in the axial direction
7 and 27', there is resistance when the side plate 23 is rotated clockwise when viewed from the outside, and can be rotated without resistance when rotated in the opposite direction. Magazine body 21 with such a configuration
As is clear from FIG. 3, the structure is symmetrical with respect to the center O. This plays an effective role when a reusable ink film is used, as will be described later. The ink film 22 is wound around a hollow core 28 and attached to the flange 2.
4, 25, and as shown in FIG.
9, and by rotating the winding core 29 counterclockwise in FIG. 4 as described later, the winding core 29
is wound up. In this case, each winding core 28, 29
is reliably held by the action of springs 26, 26'. This rotation of the winding core 29 is caused by the rotation of the flange 2
5' is driven by a V-belt (described in detail later) that engages with the V-groove 25a' formed in the V-groove 25', but since the resistance of the one-way clutch 27' does not act in this direction, the rotation is performed smoothly. be exposed. In this case, the core 28 is driven and rotated by the ink film 22 wound around the core 29, but since the one-way clutch 27 has resistance to this rotation, the ink film 22 unwound from the core 28 is rotated. The ink film 22 can be smoothly fed out and wound up without sagging. When using reusable ink film, the magazine body 2
Taking advantage of the fact that 1 has a point-symmetric configuration, the film magazine 16 is rotated 180 degrees on the paper surface of FIG. 3 and stored in the machine frame 15 in the opposite direction to that of FIG. This time, the winding core 28 becomes the winding side and the winding core 29 becomes the unwinding side. In this case as well, the ink film 22 is fed out and wound up smoothly.

Next, the procedure for storing the film magazine 16 will be explained with reference to FIG. Note that the ink film is omitted in the figure.

A front rod 30 and a rear rod 31 are provided protruding from the side plate 23 of the magazine body. Each of these rods, like the other members, is arranged symmetrically. On the other hand, a front stopper 32 and a rear stopper 33 corresponding to these rods are attached to the machine frame 15. The front stopper 32 is fixed, and the rear stopper 33 is attached to a square shaft 34 rotatably supported by the machine frame 15. The rear stopper 33 is provided with a spring 35 and can rotate with ease between the position shown by the dotted line and the position shown by the solid line in the figure. When storing, keep the magazine body 21 in the dotted line state and move the front rod 30 to the front stopper 3.
After engaging with the recess 36 of No. 2, the magazine body 21 is rotated clockwise using the engaging portion as a fulcrum.
Then, the bottom of the magazine body 21 engages with the spring 35, and the rear rod 31 engages with the inclined surface 37 of the rear stopper 33, elastically deforming the spring 35, and the rear rod 31 rotates while sliding on the inclined surface 37. progresses. When this rotation progresses by a predetermined amount, the rear rod 31 moves into the recess 38 of the rear stopper 33.
engage with. Rear stopper 3 at the position indicated by the solid line in the figure
3 shows this state, and in this state, the magazine main body 21 is reliably locked by the biasing force of the spring 35 and the engagement of the rear rod 31 with the recess 38.
Of course, the film magazine 16 is mounted with the support members 12 and 14 opened as shown in FIG.

Film magazine 1 stored in this way
When removing the shaft 34 for changing the film or setting the magazine in the opposite direction, operate the lever 39 (see Fig. 2) fixed on the outside of the side plate 23 of the shaft 34.
4 in the clockwise direction in FIG.
Rotate until it comes off. In this state, the magazine body 21 is pushed up by the spring 35, and the film magazine 16 can be easily removed.

After storing the film magazine 16 in the manner described above, the guide roller 11, paper, and platen 13 are set in a printable state as follows.

The guide roller 11 is set by rotating the support member 12 from the second open state in the closing direction shown by the arrow. Due to this rotation, the locking piece 40 (see FIG. 2) provided on the arm 17 locks on the machine frame 15, and the guide roller 11 is positioned at a predetermined position.

The paper is set by using a support section 41 (see Fig. 2), which is provided in the machine frame 15 with a shaft that supports the rolled paper.
This is done by supporting the paper roll and pulling it out by passing it over the two guide rollers 11 set as described above.

Furthermore, the setting of the platen 13 is performed using the support member 14.
This is done by rotating from the open state shown in FIG. 2 in the closing direction shown by the arrow. During this rotation, the inclined surface 43 of an engaging member (locking means) 42 (see FIG. 2) rotatably supported by the machine frame 15 engages with the shaft portion of the platen 13, and the engaging member 42 The support member 14 continues to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2 against the biasing force of the spring 44. When the shaft portion of the platen 13 passes through the inclined surface 43, the locking portion 4 of the engaging member 42 is biased by the spring 44.
5 locks the shaft portion of the platen 13 from above, and positions the shaft portion on a bearing portion 46 provided on the machine frame 15. Platen 1 set in this way
3 is in pressure contact with a thermal head 47 disposed inside the machine frame 15 as shown in FIG. It is pressed against the thermal head 11 through the paper. At the time of this setting, the gear 48 provided coaxially with the platen 13
meshes with a gear 49 provided on the machine frame 15. This gear 49 is driven by a drive system including a belt and a plurality of gears by a pulse motor 50 attached to the machine frame 15 to rotate the gear 48 in forward and reverse directions.

When the platen 13 is set, the roller 51 supported by the arm 19 comes into pressure contact with the surface of the roll of paper set in the machine frame 15. The configuration for supporting this roller 51 and its function are as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the roller 51 is rotatably supported by one end of a link 52, and the other end of the link 52 is fixed to the shaft of a roller 53 supported by the arms 19, 19. This roller 53 is driven by a pulley provided on the shaft of the platen 13 via a belt 54, and the roller 51 is
It is driven via a belt 55 by a pulley provided on the shaft of the roller 53, but in this case, the roller 51
By providing a one-way clutch in the middle of the power transmission system, power is transmitted only when the platen 13 rotates in the direction of the arrow (when the paper is retracted as described later), and when the platen 13 rotates in the opposite direction. It can be straddled without power being transmitted. Note that the circumferential speed of the roller 51 is naturally set to be the same as the circumferential speed of the platen 13. This roller 51
When the platen 13 is set as described above, it is biased by the spring 58 provided between the U-shaped metal fitting 56 fixed to the link 52 and the metal fitting 57 fixed to the arm 19, as shown in FIG. It is pressed against the surface of the roll paper 59 as shown in FIG. Although a detailed explanation will be omitted, the metal fitting 56 serves as a guide to ensure that the roller 51 moves in the direction in which it comes into contact with the rolled paper when the support member 14 is rotated in the closing direction to set the platen 13. It fulfills the following.

Printing is possible with all the settings completed in this way.Next, the paper feed and ink film feed during printing will be explained together with other structures that have not yet been explained.

When printing with a thermal head, as shown in FIG. 7, the platen 13 is rotated in the forward direction shown by the arrow (opposite to the arrow in FIG. 2), and the paper is transported forward as shown by the arrow. The ink film 22 is transported in the same direction. In this example, since it is a color thermal printer that prints in multiple colors, the ink film 22 has Y (yellow) color,
M (magenta) color ink and C (cyan) color ink are continuously applied in this order to a predetermined length, and the first printing is performed with Y color. In this case, the paper 59 is conveyed in close contact with the platen 13 (by the action of the guide roller 11) by the rotation of the platen 13 driven by the pulse motor 50 via the drive system as described above, and the roller 51 is moved into a roll shape. It contacts the paper 59 and rotates idly. Note that the roll paper 5
Although detailed illustrations are omitted, the support part 9 is provided with a mechanism that combines a one-way clutch and a frictional force applying means that acts on the outer circumferential side of the clutch. Appropriate brakes are applied to ensure that the paper is fed out without slack, and when the paper is fed backwards as will be described later, the one-way clutch is slipped so that the reversely fed paper can be easily wound up by the rollers 51 without slack. . Further, the ink film 22 is transferred by rotating a third winding core 29.
9 is rotated by the pulse motor 5 as shown in FIG.
0 drives the shaft 61 in the direction of the arrow through the belt 60, idle gear 64, etc., and the rotation of the shaft 61 causes the winding core 29 to move as shown in FIG.
This is done by moving a belt 62 that is in pressure contact with the outer periphery of the ink film 22 being wound up. In FIG. 2, the hatched portion of the belt 62 indicates the portion that comes into pressure contact with the ink film 22. If only the belt 62 is used for driving, there is a risk that the ink film 22 may not be transported unreliably due to slipping between the belt 62 and the ink film 22 or slipping between the ink films. In order to solve this problem, in addition to the belt 62, a belt 63 (provided at a different position in the axial direction from the belt 62) shown by a dotted line in FIG. Flange 25' as shown in
The flange 2
5' may also be driven.

In this way, Y color printing is performed on the paper while rotating the platen 13 and transporting the paper and the ink film. When the Y color printing is completed, the ink film 22 is stopped and the paper 59 is returned to its original position. Reverse feed to the position. These operations are performed by the following steps.

When Y color printing is completed, the pulse motor 50 is temporarily stopped, the idle gear 64 shown in FIG. 8 is retracted in the direction of the arrow, and then the pulse motor 50 is rotated in the opposite direction to that described above. The retraction mechanism for the idle gear 64 in this case is as shown in FIG.
The idle gear 64 is supported by a lever 66 supported by a support shaft 65, and a locking member 68 having teeth 67 is fixed to the lever 66, and the ink film 22 is transferred as described above during printing. At this time, the idle gear 64 and the lever 66 are in the position shown in the figure and drive the shaft 61. When retracting the idle gear 64 in the direction of the arrow, use the lever 66.
All you have to do is rotate the 2nd
This can be done automatically by operating the solenoid 69 shown in the figure. When the lever 66 rotates, the teeth 67 of the locking member 68 engage with the teeth of a gear 70 fixed to the shaft 61 to lock the gear 70, that is, the shaft 61. When the pulse motor 50 rotates in this state, the platen 13 rotates in the opposite direction to the above-mentioned direction to reversely feed the paper 59 to the initial state, and the reversely fed paper 59 is reliably wound by the rollers 51 without loosening. . When the reverse feeding of the paper 59 is completed, the pulse motor 50 temporarily stops, and
When the solenoid 69 stops operating, the pulse motor 50 starts normal rotation. Therefore, the paper 59 is transported forward and the M color portion of the ink film 22 is transported, thereby performing M color printing.

Thereafter, C color printing is performed in the same manner, completing one cycle of operation.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, ink film is stored and transported in a film magazine that is removably attached to the printer frame, and the guide rollers and platen are not provided. It is supported by each indicating member that can be opened and closed, and can be easily set by rotating each support member in the closing direction, so it is possible to easily attach and detach films, paper, etc. .

Note that although the above-described embodiments have been described with respect to a color thermal printer, the present invention can also be applied to an ordinary thermal printer.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the main parts of a thermal printer, Figure 2
10 to 10 show an embodiment of the thermal printer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall outline of the thermal printer, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the film magazine, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the same. Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram of how to attach and detach the film magazine to and from the machine frame, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of how to rewind paper when paper is fed backwards, and Figure 7 is a diagram showing the state in which ink film, paper, guide rollers, and platen have been set. Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the core drive mechanism on the take-up side of the film magazine, Figure 9 is a diagram to explain how to transport the ink film using a belt, and Figure 10 is a diagram to explain how to stop the ink film when the paper is fed backwards. be. In the figure, 11 is a guide roller, 12 is a first support member, 13 is a platen, 14 is a second support member,
15 is the machine frame, 16 is the film magazine, 17,1
9 is an arm, 18 and 20 are support shafts, 21 is a magazine body, 22 is an ink film, 28 and 29 are winding cores, 41 is a supporting portion for rolled paper, 42 is an engaging member (locking means), and 46 is a platen. 47 is a thermal head, 50 is a pulse motor, and 59 is paper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The paper and ink film are transferred by a platen that is pressed against a thermal head installed in the machine frame, and the paper is sent in the forward and reverse direction of the film, and the ink film is transferred at the same speed as the paper. A color printer configured to perform printing using a printer, and equipped with a pair of guide rollers that press the paper against the platen on both sides of a printing section,
The ink film is fed into a film magazine removably provided on the machine frame, and is stored in a retractable manner, and the guide roller is supported by a first support member rotatably supported on the machine frame. and supporting the platen on a second support member rotatably supported on the machine frame so that the ink film is sandwiched between the thermal head and the platen, and the paper is sandwiched between the guide roller and the platen; The collar is further characterized in that the machine frame is provided with a locking means for removably locking the platen in a position where the platen is pressed into contact with the thermal head when the second support member is rotated in the closing direction. printer.