JPH0761075A - Printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printer device wherein a sheet can be conveyed to a recording section with high precision and stable print quality can be maintained. CONSTITUTION:In a printer device, thermal transfer or sublimation recording is performed by conveying sheets one by one. The printer device is equipped with a sheet grip section which holds a sheet 20 to be conveyed to a recording section and conveys the sheet in upstream or downstream direction and an axial pressure control means 70 for controlling the sheet holding pressure of the sheet grip section. The sheet grip section comprises a grip roller 80 for conveying the sheet 20 and a pinch roller 60 axially supported such that it abuts against the upper part of the grip roller 80 so as to be driven.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device such as a thermal transfer or sublimation type printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many printer apparatuses having a sheet grip portion for conveying a sheet to a recording portion of a thermal transfer or sublimation type printer have been proposed. For example, in a structure in which a pinch roller is directly supported by a side member made of sheet metal or the like, a method of applying a sheet gripping pressure of a sheet grip part is to use a pinch roller surface made of an elastic material such as rubber. In the design stage, the inter-axis distance between the grip roller rotating shaft and the pinch roller rotating shaft is shortened. A printer device having a sheet grip portion to which a sheet gripping pressure is applied by such a method has been proposed.

[0003]

However, in the conventional example configured as described above, the pinch roller of the seat grip portion does not have the axial pressure adjusting means for adjusting the sheet gripping pressure, and the sheet gripping pressure is adjusted. Since the sheet cannot be adjusted, the sheet gripping pressure becomes unstable, and there is a problem that it is not possible to carry the sheet with high accuracy when repeatedly printing.

Further, when a color printer repeatedly prints, there is a problem that a color shift occurs and the printing quality deteriorates. Therefore, the printer device of the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the printer device is to raise the sheet in the recording portion by the axial pressure adjusting means for adjusting the sheet gripping pressure of the sheet grip portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device which can be conveyed with high accuracy and can prevent color shift due to repeated printing and maintain stable printing quality.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and to achieve the object, a printer device of the present invention is a printer device which conveys sheets one by one and performs thermal transfer or sublimation recording. A sheet grip part for gripping a rear end part of the sheet conveyed to a recording part and conveying the sheet in an upstream or downstream direction, and an axial pressure adjusting means for adjusting a sheet gripping pressure of the sheet grip part. Is characterized by.

Further, the sheet grip portion is characterized by comprising a grip roller for conveying a sheet and a pinch roller which is axially supported so as to come into contact with the upper portion of the grip roller.

[0007]

As described above, since the printer device according to the present invention is configured, the sheet is conveyed to the recording section with high accuracy and the repeated printing is performed by the axial pressure adjusting means for adjusting the sheet gripping pressure of the sheet grip section. It is possible to prevent color misregistration due to, and maintain stable print quality.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a sublimation type printer device of this embodiment.
The cover 3 is open. Printer device 1
Is composed of a left side member 2, a cover 3, a right side member 4, a sheet supply cassette guide 5, a base 39, and an inner frame 18.

A thermal head 11 composed of a heat sink 10 and a guide lever pressing pin 12 is fixed by a thermal head support member 32. Further, the cover 3 can be opened and closed as a cover of a printer device by two arms 6 fixed to a thermal head fulcrum shaft 7 pivotally supported by a thermal head fulcrum bearing 15 mounted at positions where the side members 2 and 4 face each other. Is working. Coil springs 8 are attached to both ends of the thermal head fulcrum shaft 7. The torsion reaction force of the spring 8 allows the cover 3 to be held in an open state.

A fixed hook support shaft 13 is pivotally supported at a position where front portions of the side members 2 and 4 face each other. A coil spring 34 and a rotating fixed hook 14 hooked on the spring 34 are annularly attached to both ends of the support shaft 13. The torsional reaction force of the coil spring 34 allows the cover 3 to be maintained in the closed state.

The left side member 2 and the right side member 4 are
Ribbon bearing block 16 and
The guide lever 17 and the bearing holder 90 are attached respectively. A grip roller bearing 98 and a platen roller bearing 99 are attached to the bearing holder 90. Platen roller 40 and grip roller 8
0 is rotatably supported by the bearing holder 90.

The pinch roller 60 is fixed to an inner frame 18 which will be described later and is extended to extract pressure.
In addition to 0, the pinch roller support portion provided on the bearing holder 90 is hooked by a leaf spring-like spring, and is rotatably supported so as to follow the grip roller 80. The surface portions of the pinch roller 60 and the platen roller 40 are made of rubber-like resin to prevent the sheet from slipping.

Further, the surface of the grip roller 80 is provided with fine needle-like projections on the entire surface, and the pinch roller 60 is provided.
When the grip roller 80 and the grip roller 80 come into contact with each other, the needle-like protrusion slightly bites into the pinch roller surface. With the above configuration, the sheet can be gripped with a stronger pressure. The sheet supply cassette guide 5 is screwed to the side members 2 and 4, the base 39, and the inner frame 18, and is integrally configured as a printer device.
In such a state, the sheet supply cassette 19 that supplies the sheet is set in the sheet supply cassette guide 5 so that it can be inserted into and removed from the sheet supply cassette guide 5.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the cover 3 of FIG. 1 in a closed state as viewed from the right side. As described in FIG. 1, the fixed hook 14 holds the cover 3 in the closed state by utilizing the reaction force of the spring. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a thermal head 11 having a heat sink 10 is provided.
Are fixed to the thermal head support plate 32 with mounting screws. The thermal head support plate 32 is fixed to the thermal head fulcrum shaft 7 rotatably supported by the thermal head fulcrum bearing 15.

Next, a method of attaching the ribbon 9 will be described. First, the ribbon 9 supplied from the supply-side ribbon reel 25 is attached to the ribbon supply roller 37. After that, the ribbon is passed between the platen roller 40 and the thermal head 11 and is tightly attached to the ribbon winding roller 26, and is wound and stored as a used ribbon on the winding-side ribbon reel 26. Actually, this work is performed with the cover 3 open. Therefore, when the cover 3 is closed, the ribbon 9 is pressed against the thermal head 11.

When the cover 3 is closed, the supply side ribbon rotating shaft 25a is pressed from the upper side and the lower side by the ribbon rotating shaft pressing arm 6a and the ribbon bearing block 16a. Similarly, the take-up ribbon rotation shaft 26a is pressed by the ribbon rotation shaft pressing arm 6b (not shown) and the ribbon bearing block 16b (not shown) so as to be sandwiched from the upper side and the lower side.

Next, when the sheet supply cassette 19 is inserted into the sheet supply cassette guide 5, it is pushed up by the pressing plate 38. Therefore, the sheet 20 is pressed against the pickup roller 29. Seat 20
Are separated into one sheet by the rotation of the pickup roller 29, and the upper separation roller 27 and the lower separation roller 28 are separated.
Will be guided during. After that, the upper back guide 21 and the lower back guide 22 are gripped by the grip roller 80 and the pinch roller 60 and guided by the guide 50.
It is temporarily stored in the area between and.

In the above state, the thermal head 11
Is a platen roller 40 with the sheet 20 and the ribbon 9 interposed therebetween.
It is in the first state where it is not in contact with. From this position, the cam 3 having the rotating shaft 40 by the positioning motor 30
The protrusion 3 attached to the thermal head 11 by rotating 1
1a is pushed down. After that, by sandwiching the sheet 20 and the ribbon 9 between the thermal head 11 and the platen roller 40, the second state becomes possible in which printing can be performed.

The pinch roller 60, which freely rotates while being driven by the grip roller 80, has a shaft pressure adjusting means 70 by a coil spring for adjusting the pressure to the grip roller 80 and feeding the sheet with high accuracy. is doing. The shaft pressure adjusting means 70 adjusts the pinch roller shaft pressure. When the second state is reached, the grip roller shaft connected by the motor 35 and the pulley outside the side member 4 is rotationally controlled to print the sheet while feeding the sheet.

Usually, in the case of printing in color, the printing is performed in yellow first, then in magenta, and finally in cyan. Next, a procedure of conveying a sheet by the printer device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a sheet conveying method and a sheet conveying procedure of the printer device of the present invention.
In FIG. 3, when the sheet supply cassette 19 is first inserted into the sheet supply cassette guide 5, the sheet 20 is pressed so as to come into contact with the pickup roller 29 by the pressing plate 38 being pushed up.

After that, the motor 36 is driven, and the pickup roller 29 connected by the belt is rotated. The sheet 20 is separated into one sheet by the pickup roller 29, and is conveyed between the upper separation roller 27 and the lower separation roller 28. Upper separation roller 27 and lower separation roller 28
Is driven by a motor 36 as a driving source and is belt driven. After that, the sheet 20 is transferred to the upper separation guide 27a
And the lower separation guide 28a, the leading end of the sheet 20 reaches the contact portion between the grip roller 80 and the pinch roller 60 (arrow D1 in FIG. 3).

The sheet 20 is gripped by pressing the grip roller 80 and the pinch roller 60, passes between the platen roller 40 and the thermal head 11, and is guided by the guide 50 between the upper back guide 21 and the lower back guide 22. You will be guided (arrow D2 in FIG. 3). At this time, sheet 2
The end portion of 0 is detected by a sensor (not shown) installed in the printer device, and the grip roller 80 and the pinch roller 60 are stopped by stopping the rotation of the grip roller 80 controlled by a signal from this sensor. It is gripped at a position such that it will not be displaced if sandwiched between and (arrow D3 in FIG. 3).

As described above, the thermal head 11 is in the first state where it is not in contact with the platen roller 40. From this state, the cam 31 having the rotating shaft 40 pivotally supported by the positioning motor 30 rotates, and the thermal head 1
The protrusion attached to No. 1 is pushed down, and the thermal head 11 enters the second state in which printing can be performed. When the second state is reached, printing is performed while the sheet is fed by the grip roller driving motor 35 that is connected to the pulley attached to the portion of the grip roller shaft that projects outward from the side member. When the printing is completed, the printed paper is guided between the upper paper ejection guide 23 and the lower paper ejection guide 24 (arrow D4 in FIG. 3). The printing sheet 20 is conveyed by the procedure described above.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an essential part of the axial pressure adjusting means of the present invention. Further, it also serves as a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing the positional relationship among the grip roller, the pinch roller, and the platen roller. In FIG. 4, the shaft pressure adjusting means 70
Is composed of a coil spring 71, an axial pressure adjusting screw 72, a coil spring support shaft 73, and an extension block 74.

The extension block 74 is provided with shaft support portions so as to support the spring support shaft 73 and the pinch roller shaft 91. Coil springs 71 are attached to both ends of the spring support shaft 73. In addition, at both ends of a portion of the spring support shaft 73 inside the position where the coil spring 71 is annularly attached, the shaft pressure adjusting screw 72 is provided.
Are screwed together.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show that in the printer device,
It is the figure which actually showed the axial pressure adjusting means of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part thereof. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an overall image. In FIG. 5, one end 71 a of the coil spring 71 is engaged with both ends of the pinch roller shaft 91, and the other end 71 b is engaged with a part of the extended block 74.

The spring support shaft 73 works so as to be pushed upward by the reaction force of the coil spring 71. By screwing the spring support shaft 73 into the extension block 74 at two locations with the shaft pressure adjusting screw 72, the reaction force of the coil spring 71 is applied to the pinch roller shaft 91.
Acts on both ends of.

Spring support shaft 73 and extension block 74
Adjust the axial pressure on the pinch roller shaft by adjusting the height of and. Specifically, the lower the height of the spring support shaft 73 and the extension block 74, the larger the axial pressure is applied to the pinch roller shaft, and conversely, the higher the height is, the smaller the axial pressure becomes. It is adjusted so that it becomes smaller.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the axial pressure adjusting means 7
0 is fixed on the inner frame 18 in the printer by a support plate. Further, the pinch roller 60 is
It is divided into five parts on the rotary shaft of the pinch roller and is supported by each. Therefore, the axial pressure adjusting means 70 is provided for each of the four pinch rollers. Since the four axial pressure adjusting means 70 are independent of each other, the axial pressures of the pinch rollers are adjusted to be the same.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the structure of the shaft pressure adjusting means together with the pinch roller. In FIG. 7, one end 71 a of the coil spring 71 is connected to the pinch roller rotation shaft 9
It is hung on both ends on 1. The other end 71b is hooked on the extension block 74. The spring support shaft 73 is
The coil spring 71 is attached to both ends and supports the coil spring 71.

The spring support shaft 73 is screwed into the extension block 74 at two points by the shaft pressure adjusting screw 72. By adjusting the height of the spring support shaft 73 and the extension block 74, the axial pressure on the pinch roller shaft is adjusted. Specifically, the lower the height of the spring support shaft 73 and the extension block 74, the larger the axial pressure is applied to the pinch roller shaft, and conversely, the higher the height is, the smaller the axial pressure becomes. It is adjusted so that it becomes smaller.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the shaft pressure adjusting means 7
0 is fixed by a support plate 75 on the inner frame 18 in the printer device. In addition, the pinch roller 60
Are divided into five parts on the pinch roller rotation shaft and are axially supported (the other two are not shown). Therefore, the axial pressure adjusting means 70 is provided for each of the four pinch rollers. Since the four axial pressure adjusting means 70 are independent of each other, the axial pressures of the pinch rollers are adjusted to be the same.

Usually, in order to stabilize the sheet transportability,
It is necessary to apply a load of about 20 kg to the pinch roller. Therefore, the shaft pressure of about 20 kg or more is applied to the grip roller. Similarly, in order to keep high-quality prints, the thermal head can store about 8 to 10 kg.
It is necessary to add the load.

Since the axial pressure adjusting means of the present invention can adjust the axial pressure applied to the grip roller shaft and the pinch roller shaft, the axial pressure applied to the pinch roller rotating shaft is equalized,
By preventing the bending of the shaft, stable and highly accurate sheet conveyance can be performed. As explained above,
According to the shaft pressure adjusting means of the present invention, it is possible to perform high quality print recording.

The present invention can be applied to modifications and variations of the above embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above, according to the printer apparatus of the present invention, the axial pressure adjusting means for adjusting the sheet gripping pressure of the sheet grip section conveys the sheet to the recording section with high accuracy and repeatedly prints the sheet. There is an effect that color misregistration can be prevented and stable print quality can be maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of FIG. 1 as viewed from the right side surface.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a sheet conveying procedure.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a shaft pressure adjusting means of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of the shaft pressure adjusting means of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing in actuality the entire shaft pressure adjusting means of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the axial pressure adjusting means of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printer Device 2 Left Side Member 3 Cover 4 Right Side Member 5 Sheet Supply Cassette Guide 9 Printing Ribbon 11 Thermal Head (Recording Section) 19 Sheet Feeding Cassette 20 Sheet 23 Upper Back Guide 24 Lower Back Guide 25 Supply Side Ribbon Reel 26 Roll Take ribbon reel 27 Upper separation roller 27a Upper separation guide 28 Lower separation roller 28a Lower separation guide 30 Positioning motor 31 Cam 35 Grip roller drive motor 36 Sheet transport motor 39 Base 40 Platen roller (recording unit) 50 Guide mechanism 60 Pinch roller (Grip part) 70 Pressure adjusting means (grip part) 71 Coil spring 72 Axial pressure adjusting screw 73 Spring support shaft 74 Extended block 75 Support plate 80 Grip roller (grip part) 90 Bearing Folder (the recording unit, the grip portion)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printer apparatus for carrying out thermal transfer or sublimation recording by carrying sheets one by one, wherein a rear end of the sheet carried to a recording unit is gripped and the sheet is carried in an upstream or downstream direction. A printer apparatus comprising: a sheet grip section for controlling a sheet gripping section; and an axial pressure adjusting means for adjusting a sheet gripping pressure of the sheet grip section. 2. The sheet grip portion includes a grip roller for conveying a sheet, and a pinch roller which is axially supported so as to abut on an upper portion of the grip roller and is driven by the pinch roller. Printer device.