JP3183115B2 - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer for printing on a recording medium fed from a recording medium cartridge or the like which is detachably mounted. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement in an ink jet printer that can be obtained in a state where a printing surface of a recording medium is laminated and coated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet printer is provided with a cartridge mounting portion for detachably mounting a recording medium cartridge containing a recording medium, and performs printing on a recording medium fed from the recording medium cartridge mounted therein. Structured types are known. There are known recording medium cartridges in which a large number of sheets of rated size are stored in a stacked state, and a long tape-shaped recording medium is stored in a rolled state.

[0003] As a tape-shaped recording medium, an adhesive layer covered with a release paper is formed on the back side, cut to a predetermined length after printing, and then peeled off the release paper to be attached as a label at a desired place. There is something that can be done. Printers that perform printing on such tape-shaped recording media are:
It is called label printer, label word processor, etc., and has been on the market in recent years. In such a printer, color printing is performed on a tape-shaped recording medium of each color, and ink of each color of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) is applied to an inkjet head. By supplying ink from a tank, color printing can be performed on a tape-shaped recording medium.

[0004] Here, the printing surface on the recording medium obtained by such an ink jet printer, that is, the ink absorbing surface has problems such as poor durability and poor ink drying property as it is.

[0005] For this reason, conventionally, the printing surface of the recording medium after printing is coated with a laminate to improve the durability and the like. In this case,
After printing the back side so that the back side of the recording medium becomes a mirror character, the printed recording medium and the laminated paper are conveyed in synchronization, and the laminated paper is superimposed on the printed surface of the recording medium, and then the heater is heated. It is necessary to use a device configured to fuse the laminated paper to the printing surface of the recording medium using a fixing device such as a fixing device.

[0006]

However, it is troublesome to apply a laminate coating to a printed printing surface using a device for laminating and coating after printing with an ink jet printer. It would be convenient if you could get what was done.

Conventionally, no ink jet printer incorporating such a laminating coating mechanism has been proposed. Thus, for example, it is conceivable to use a configuration in which a double-sided tape is attached to the back surface of a printed recording medium as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-6966. However, such a mechanism causes the following problem.

First, since it is necessary to arrange a supply unit for supplying the laminated paper, the size of the printer main body is correspondingly increased.

Next, it is necessary to convey the recording medium and the laminated paper in a synchronized manner and to bond them together accurately. However, it is difficult to always bond the recording paper accurately due to the slippage of the transfer rollers and the like. In order to increase the bonding accuracy, it is necessary to take measures such as improving the drive control of the transport rollers and the like, which increases the cost.

Furthermore, since the laminated paper is bonded to the printing surface of the recording medium, the printed recording medium obtained becomes thicker by the amount of the laminated paper.

An object of the present invention is to propose an ink jet printer which can solve such a conventional problem.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ink jet printer of the present invention performs printing by an ink jet method on a tape-shaped recording medium covered with a liquid-permeable heat laminating layer in which an ink absorbing layer can be heated and fixed. in the cartridge mounting hands for detachably mounting the recording medium cartridge can accommodate feeding said recording medium
A stage, and a transport mechanism for sending from the mounted recording medium cartridge feeding the Symbol <br/> recording medium, an ink jet head for printing on a recording medium fed by the transport mechanism, the printing from the leading end of said recording medium Printing to end position
Printing between the printed part and the unprinted part that follows
Cutting means for cutting along the position, below the cutting means
Disposed on the downstream side to heat the printed part and
To discharge the printed portion after cutting to the outside.
And a discharging means .

[0013] Further , the ink-jet printer according to the above (claim 1).
In the printer, the transport mechanism includes the printed portion.
After cutting, the tip of the unprinted portion is
The recording medium so as to return to the print start position of the print head.
Is preferably reversed .

[0014] In addition, these (claims 1 and 2)
In a jet printer, the discharging means includes the mark.
A guide plate for guiding a printed portion to the outside, and the guide plate
The discharge path together with the guide plate
And a plate heater for heating the printed portion.
It is preferable that.

[0015] In addition, these (claims 1 to 3)
In a jet printer, the discharging means includes the mark.
A pair of discharges spaced apart in the feed direction of the printed part
Preferably, a roller is provided .

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

[0019]

[0020]

In the ink jet printer of the present invention,
The ink-absorbing layer that defines the printing surface of the recording medium is covered with a heat laminating layer.
Therefore, there is no need to separately supply laminated paper, attach the laminated paper to the recording medium, and heat-bond the laminated paper. What is necessary is just to heat the printing surface of the recording medium after printing. Therefore, the size of the printer body can be reduced, and a mechanism for synchronizing the laminated paper and the recording medium is not required. Further, since no laminated paper is attached to the recording medium, the printed recording medium does not become thick.

Further, in the present invention, when a tape-shaped recording medium is used, the cutting means is arranged on the transport path between the ink jet head and the heating means. In a conventional printer that performs printing on a tape-shaped recording medium, the cutting means is disposed at the outlet of the tape-shaped recording medium, that is, at the downstream end of the transport path. If this configuration is adopted as it is, when the rear end of the printed tape-shaped recording medium is transported to the cutting position, the portion of the tape-shaped recording medium to be printed will be located at the location where the heating means is arranged. Is not preferred. On the other hand, in the present invention, since the cutting means is arranged at a position on the near side in the transport direction of the heating means, only the portion of the printed tape-shaped recording medium is located at the location where the heating means is arranged. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a problem that the portion of the tape-shaped recording medium to be printed is heated before printing.

Further, in the present invention, a pair of discharge rollers or a conveyor belt disposed opposite to the heating means are employed as the discharge means . Therefore, record after cutting
Even if the printed portion of the medium is short, it can be reliably ejected.

On the other hand, according to the printing method of the present invention, the tape-shaped recording medium which has been cut by the cutting means located downstream of the ink jet head in the transport direction can be used.
The head is retracted until the head returns to the upstream side in the transport direction from the inkjet head again. Therefore, if the next printing operation is started as it is after cutting, the portion of the tape-shaped recording medium that is wasted, that is, the portion of the tape-shaped recording medium located between the printing position of the inkjet head and the cutting position Can be used.

In the printing method according to the present invention, after the printed tape-shaped recording medium enters the heating area by the heating means, the tape-shaped recording medium is intermittently fed. Therefore, a sufficient heating time by the heating means can be ensured, and the thermal fusion of the thermal laminate layer can be reliably performed.

[0025]

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

(Overall Configuration) The ink jet printer of this embodiment includes a mounting portion for a tape cartridge in which a tape-shaped recording medium is stored in a rolled state, and a tape fed out from the tape cartridge mounted here. This is a type in which printing is performed on a recording medium using an inkjet head. In particular, the printer of this example is of a type called a label printer, label word processor, or the like that performs printing on the surface of a tape-shaped recording medium provided with an adhesive layer covered on the back side with release paper.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross section of a portion cut along the line II-II. As shown in these figures, the ink jet printer 1 has a thin rectangular parallelepiped main body casing 101 as a whole, and a front half of the upper surface thereof is an operation surface 102.
Here, various keys are arranged, and a print button 103 for instructing a printing operation, a power button 104, and the like are also included. A liquid crystal display unit 107 for displaying character information and the like input via keys on the operation surface 102 is arranged on a rear portion of the upper surface of the casing 101.

On the other hand, the rear end face 1 of the main body casing 101
01a has a tape discharge port 10 at the center position on the upper end side.
1b is formed, and the tape-shaped recording medium after printing is discharged to the outside through this. Also,
An opening / closing lid 105 is attached below the outlet 101b. When the lid 105 is opened, a mounting portion 4 of the tape cartridge 3 described later is formed inside.
Therefore, the tape cartridge 3 can be replaced by opening the lid. Further, on the bottom surface 101c of the main body casing 101, an opening / closing lid 106 for replacing an ink cartridge described later is arranged.

Inside the main body casing 101, a power supply unit 112, a battery 113 such as a NiCd battery, and the like are mounted in a front portion where the operation surface 102 is located on the upper side. The drive mechanism unit 2 is mounted on the rear side.

(Driving Mechanism Unit) FIGS. 3 to 6 show the driving mechanism unit 2 mounted inside the main body casing 101. FIG. In these figures, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view, FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view, FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the drive mechanism unit viewed from the side of the arrow R in FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a part of the tape cartridge mounted on the drive mechanism unit.

First, the overall structure of the drive mechanism unit 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The drive mechanism unit 2 of the present embodiment includes a cartridge mounting section 4 in which a tape cartridge 3 as a supply source of the tape-shaped recording medium T is removably mounted, and a tape-shaped recording medium T fed out from the cartridge 3 mounted therein. , A transport mechanism 6 for transporting the tape-shaped recording medium T along the transport path, an inkjet head 7 for printing on the recording medium T, and an ink supply mechanism for supplying ink to the inkjet head 7 And a carriage mechanism 9 for reciprocating the inkjet head 7 in the width direction of the recording medium T, in this example, in the width direction of the drive mechanism unit. Further, a head cap mechanism 11 for closing the ink nozzles of the ink jet head 7 is provided, and a waste ink collecting mechanism 12 for collecting waste ink collected via the head cap mechanism 11 is provided.

Here, the ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment
, The transport path 5 of the tape-shaped recording medium T printed by the inkjet head 7 is provided with a cutter 5
The discharge path is defined by a plate heater 54 and a guide plate 55 downstream of the cutter 57. A pair of discharge rollers 5 is provided on the guide plate 55 side.
6a and 56b are arranged. The discharge roller 56b is
The discharge roller 56a is arranged at a position at a fixed distance toward the downstream side in the transport direction. Further, the upstream discharge roller 56a is disposed at a position at a certain distance from the cutter 57 toward the downstream side in the transport direction.

The tape-shaped recording medium T after printing passes through the cutter 57 and is conveyed to the portion where the plate-shaped heater 54 is disposed, and the heater 54 heats and fixes the printing surface. Here, the tape-shaped recording medium T is heated and fixed while moving by intermittent driving in which stop and movement are repeated once on the heater. The cutter 57 cuts the rear end of the printing surface, and the portion of the cut tape-shaped recording medium is conveyed to the discharge port 101b side by a pair of discharge rollers 56a and 56b, and discharged to the outside.

Next, each part will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The drive mechanism unit 2 includes a base 21 for mounting each of the above components.
The right-hand side wall 22 and the left-hand side wall 2 which stand vertically on both sides of 1
3 are formed.

A motor mounting plate 24 extends horizontally on the upper part of the right side wall 22, and the carriage mechanism 9
Is mounted.
The output shaft of the motor 91 extends downward, and a pulley 92 is fixed to a lower end thereof. Opposite left wall 2
On the third side, a tension pulley 94 is rotatably supported at the tip of a tension lever 93 supported on the base. The pulleys 92 and 94 are at the same height, and a timing belt 95 is stretched between them in a constant tension state. The timing belt 95 is connected to an upper side of a carriage 96 on which the inkjet head 7 is mounted. The lower side of the carriage 96 is movably supported in the axial direction by a carriage guide shaft 97 bridged between the left and right side walls 22 and 23.

The carriage mechanism 9 is constructed as described above. By driving the motor 91, the carriage 96 connected to the timing belt 95 reciprocates linearly in the width direction of the tape recording medium T. Therefore,
The head 7 mounted thereon reciprocates linearly in the width direction. Therefore, by driving the head 7 in synchronization with the reciprocating linear movement of the head in the width direction by the carriage, a desired print can be formed on the surface of the tape-shaped recording medium T being conveyed.

The carriage 96 carrying the ink jet head 7 is provided with an ink cartridge mounting portion 81, in which an ink cartridge 82 is removably mounted. The ink cartridge 82 of this example includes, for example, three ink tanks 83, each of which stores cyan, magenta, and yellow inks.
Therefore, the ink jet head 7 also has ink nozzles (not shown) corresponding to each color.

As shown in FIG. 2, three ink supply ports 72 for each color are opened in the ink jet head 7 in the horizontal direction, and the ink supply ports 83a for each color of the ink cartridge 82 are pressed against these ink supply ports. It is supposed to.
That is, the ink cartridge 82 has the ink storage portions 84 of the respective colors, the elastic sealing members 85 attached to the tips of the respective ink storing portions, and the ink supply passages 86 extending through the centers of the elastic sealing members. The opening at the tip of each ink supply path is an ink supply port 83 for each color, and a filter 87 is attached to each supply port.

Also on the side of the ink jet head 7,
Filters 73 are attached to supply ports 72 for the respective color inks, and these supply ports are connected via ink supply paths 74.
It leads to the corresponding ink nozzle of each color. The ink cartridge 82 is mounted on the mounting portion 81 by opening the opening / closing lid 106 on the bottom surface of the main body casing 101. The ink cartridge 82 is held between the abutting wall 81a of the mounting portion 81 and the ink jet head 7 in a state where the ink cartridge 82 is sandwiched therebetween, and the ink is passed through a filter 73 on the ink jet head 7 side and a filter 87 on the ink cartridge 82 side. An ink supply path is formed from the cartridge side to the inkjet head side. Thus, the ink supply mechanism 8 is configured.

Next, the tape cartridge mounting section 4
Is located at the center of the drive mechanism unit 2 in the width direction. In other words, it is located at the center of the reciprocating range of the inkjet head 7. As shown in FIG. 4, the inkjet head 7 moves from a home position (empty suction position) P1 on the right side wall 22 to a turnover position P2 on the left side wall 23.
It is set to reciprocate between At the time of a normal printing operation, the position P3 is located at the center from the home position P1.
To the position P2. P3 to P4
The area up to is an acceleration area, the area from position P4 to position P5 is an idle running area, and the range from position P5 to position P6 is a printable area. The region from the position P6 to the position P7 is an idle running region, and the region from the position P7 to the position P2 is a deceleration region (an acceleration region at the time of backward movement). Note that a photo interrupter 901 for detecting that the carriage has reached the home position is attached to the right side wall 22, and a detection piece 902 protrudes from the side surface of the carriage 96. When the home position is reached, the detected piece 902 is detected by the photo interrupter 901 and the movement of the carriage 96 is stopped.

When the ink jet head 7 is at the home position P1
In a certain state, a head cap mechanism 11 is arranged at a position where the ink nozzles face each other. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the head cap mechanism 11 includes a head cap 111 movable in a direction (front and rear) approaching and moving away from the ink nozzles of the inkjet head 7 at the home position, and a cap for moving the head cap 111 forward and backward. A moving mechanism 112 and a mounting plate 25 supporting the moving mechanism 112 are provided. The mounting plate 25 stands upright from the base 21. An ink absorber is attached to the surface of the head cap 111, through which waste ink can be absorbed from the nozzles of the ink jet head 7.

The waste ink collecting mechanism 12 for collecting waste ink via the head cap mechanism 11 has an ink suction tube 121 communicating with the head cap mechanism 11, and the other end of the tube 121 is suctioned by an ink pump 122. It communicates with the mouth. The ink pump 122 is a tube pump, and is disposed between the tape cartridge mounting section 4 and the left side wall 23. A pump motor 123 for driving the pump is disposed above the pump 122. The end on the ejection side of the ink pump 122 can communicate with a waste ink recovery unit built in the tape cartridge 3 as described later. The waste ink collecting mechanism 12 includes an atmosphere opening tube 124 that communicates with the head cap mechanism 11, and the other end of the tube 124 can be opened to the atmosphere via a valve unit 125.

(Tape Cartridge) Next, the structure of the tape cartridge 3 of this embodiment and the mounting portion 4 thereof will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a tape cartridge and a mounting portion thereof, (A) is a schematic sectional view thereof,
(B) is an explanatory view showing the front wall. The tape cartridge 3 of this example has a rectangular parallelepiped cartridge case 31.
In the internal space 32, a tape roll 33 around which the tape-shaped recording medium T is wound is disposed at the center. The middle portion of the front wall 34 of the cartridge case 31 in the up-down direction just faces the ink nozzles of the inkjet head 7 in the mounted state. The front wall portion 34A functions as a guide member (hereinafter, simply referred to as "paper guide") for defining a printing position of the inkjet head 7, and the tape-shaped recording medium T is transported along the surface. The upper guide wall 3 is provided above and below the front wall portion 34A at a fixed distance from the surface thereof.
5 and the lower guide wall 36 are formed integrally with the cartridge case 31, and a conveying path for the recording medium is defined between the cartridge case 31 and the front wall portion 34A. An opening 35A between the upper and lower guide walls 35, 36 is a printing opening for passing ink droplets ejected from the ink jet head 7 to the recording medium T side.

An outlet 37 for feeding the tape-shaped recording medium T is formed below the front wall 34. A pair of left and right tape pressing rollers 38 are disposed inside the feeding port 37. These rollers 3
8 is pressed toward the feeding port 37 by a leaf spring 41 attached to the inside of the case 31. The rollers 38 are supported by the case 31 in a state where the rollers 38 can be pushed inward from the feeding port 37 by a fixed distance against the spring force of the leaf spring 41. In the initial state, the leading end of the tape-shaped recording medium T is held between the edge of the feeding port 37 and the outer peripheral surface of the roller 38 by a spring force.

On the other hand, an ink collecting window 42 is opened on the left and right sides of the case front wall portion 34A functioning as a paper guide. A case inner wall 43 is provided inside the case front wall portion 34A.
Thus, a waste ink collecting section 44 is defined, and an ink absorbing material 45 is filled therein. A part of the ink absorbing material 45 is exposed from the pair of collecting windows 42 toward the print head.

Here, the ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment
Is a tape-shaped recording medium T similar to that described in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-256868 filed by the present applicant.
The printing width Tp can be set over a width wider than the width Tw, and solid printing can be performed over the printing width Tp. When such solid printing is performed, printing at a portion deviating from the left and right edges of the tape-shaped recording medium T is performed as follows.
In this case, the printing is "overprinting", and the ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head 7 at that point go directly to the front wall portion 34A of the tape cartridge 3. However, in the front wall portion 34A of the tape cartridge 3 of the present example, the ink collection windows 42 are opened at the left and right positions corresponding to the positions where the overflow printing is performed as described above. Therefore, the ink droplets ejected during the overflow printing pass through these ink collection windows 42 and strike the ink absorbing material 45 of the ink collection section 44 in the cartridge case, where they are absorbed and held. Therefore, even if the overprinting is performed, there is no adverse effect such as each part of the tape cartridge mounting section 4 being stained by the ink droplets. Further, it is not necessary to provide a separate collecting unit in the printer body for collecting such ink droplets.

Next, in the tape cartridge 3 of the present embodiment, the following configuration is adopted so that the feeding and transporting operation of the tape-shaped recording medium T can always be performed in an appropriate state. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the wrap-in prevention guide plates 46 are respectively attached to the outside of the pressing rollers 38 arranged on the left and right of the tape feeding port 37. The entanglement prevention guide plate 46 is a thin plate made of plastic, the upper end side of which is fixed to the lower end surface of the front wall portion 34A, and is directed downward with the space between the upper edge of the feeding port 37 and the pressing roller 38 closed. Extending.
The lower end is curved toward the inside of the cartridge case so as not to obstruct the tape-shaped recording medium T fed from the feeding port 37.

Since the entanglement prevention plate 46 is arranged to partially close the upper edge of the feeding port 37 and the pressing roller 38 at the left and right positions, the tape-shaped recording medium T Can be prevented from being caught in the cartridge case again.

In the tape cartridge 3 of this embodiment, a guide auxiliary plate 4 is provided inside a lower guide wall 36 formed at a lower portion of the front wall portion 34A functioning as a paper guide.
7 is attached. The guide auxiliary plate 47 has a lower end that extends in a direction away from the wall 34A, and gradually approaches the front wall 34A toward the upper end.
By arranging such a guide auxiliary plate 47, the tape-shaped recording medium T unwound from the tape cartridge 3 can be used.
Is reliably guided to the printing position.

Here, the tape-shaped recording medium T used in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 schematically shows a cross-sectional configuration of the tape-shaped recording medium T of this example. In the figure, reference numeral 131 denotes an ink absorbing layer which defines a printing surface, and this surface is covered with a liquid-permeable heat laminating layer 132. The ink absorbing layer 131 is a PET support layer 13.
3, and an adhesive layer 134 is formed on the back surface of the support layer 133. This adhesive layer 134
Is covered with a release paper 135. The ink droplets ejected from the ink jet head pass through the heat laminating layer 132 on the front surface, and the ink absorbing layer 13 on the back surface thereof.
Attach to 1. After printing, when heated by the heater 54, the heat laminate layer 132 is once melted and cured to change to a liquid-impermeable transparent layer. As a result, similar to the case where the laminated paper is bonded to the ink absorbing layer 131,
The surface of the ink absorbing layer 131 is in a state of being laminated and coated. Generally, the heating temperature of the heater 54 is about 130 degrees Celsius. As such a heater 54, a heater having a configuration in which a heating element is arranged inside or on the back of an aluminum plate may be adopted.

The heat laminating apparatus 132, the ink absorbing layer 131, and the support layer 133 employed in this example are used.
For example, for a recording medium including
No. 73 discloses this in detail. Therefore, in this specification, a detailed description of such a material of each part of the recording medium is omitted.

Next, the mounting section 4 on the printer main body side to which the tape cartridge 3 having the above configuration is mounted will be described. As shown in FIG. 6A, at least two positioning pins 400 are attached to the lower side of the front wall of the mounting portion 4 so as to define the mounting position of the tape cartridge 3. I have. Above these pins 400, a feed roller 61 is arranged. The feed roller 61 is rotatably bridged between the left and right side walls 22 and 23. The position of the feed roller in the front-rear direction is such that, when the tape cartridge 3 is mounted, the feed roller comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 38 and slightly pushes the roller 38 inwardly of the cartridge against the spring force. It is set to be formed. By setting in this way, when mounting the tape cartridge,
A state in which the leading end of the tape-shaped recording medium T is sandwiched between the pushing roller 38 and the feed roller 61 is formed. When the feed roller 51 is rotated in the transport direction in this state, the transport of the tape-shaped recording medium T is started.

Here, as shown in FIG. 7, a connection port 401 connected to the ink absorber 45 of the ink recovery section 44 is opened at a front position on the side surface of the cartridge case 31 of the tape cartridge 3. The tip 126 a of the tube 126 on the discharge side of the tube pump 122 of the waste ink recovery mechanism 12 can be inserted into the connection port 401. That is, the lever 403 that can swing around the fixed shaft 402 is disposed in the cartridge device unit 4. The lower end of the lever 403 engages with the cartridge case 31 when the tape cartridge 3 is mounted, and is pushed by the case 31. As can be seen from the figure, in this example, this lever 40
The lower end of the tape cartridge 3 is pushed down when the tape cartridge 3 is mounted. As a result, around the fixed shaft 402,
The arm 403 a on the upper end side of the lever 403 moves toward the side surface of the tape cartridge 3. The tip of the tube 126 is attached to the tip of the arm 403a.
Therefore, with the movement of the lever 403, the tube tip 126a is inserted into the connection port 401 of the mounted tape cartridge 3 and is maintained in that state.

As described above, in conjunction with the mounting operation of the tape cartridge 3, the lever 403 swings, and the ink recovery path of the waste ink recovery mechanism 12 is connected to the ink recovery section 44 in the mounted tape cartridge. You.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the waste ink collecting system of this embodiment will be described. As described above, the ink absorbing material 45 contained in the tape cartridge 3 directly absorbs the ink droplets during the overflow printing and holds the ink droplets there.

In the printing standby state, the ink jet head 7 is moved to its home position P1 by the carriage mechanism 9, and the head cap 111 is covered. In this state, ink droplets attached to the ink nozzles are absorbed by the ink absorber 115 attached to the head cap 111. In addition, a flushing operation is performed so that ink nozzles are not clogged, and ink droplets are wastefully ejected. At this time, ink droplets ejected from the ink nozzles are also absorbed by the ink absorber 115 and held there. In order to prevent the ink absorber 115 of the head cap 111 from being filled with ink, it is necessary to collect the waste ink absorbed and held therein. The mechanism for this is the ink recovery mechanism 12 described above. Open the valve unit 125 and set the ink absorber 11
5 to the atmosphere side, and in this state, the ink pump 12
2 is driven to collect the waste ink held in the ink absorber 115 through the ink tube 121 into the ink absorbing material 45 in the ink collecting section built in the tape cartridge 3.

On the other hand, the transport mechanism 5 including the feed roller 61
Has a paper feed motor 62 attached to the left side wall 23 of the drive mechanism unit, and a reduction gear train 63 for transmitting the output to the feed roller 61. Reduction gear train 63
Are rotatably supported on the outer surface of the left side wall 23, respectively. The rotation of the motor 62 is reduced by the reduction gear train 63, and the roller shaft 56c of the discharge roller 56b is reduced.
Is transmitted to The roller shaft 56c is connected to a roller shaft (not shown) of the other discharge roller 56a via a winding transmission mechanism such as a belt. Therefore, these discharge rollers 56b and 56a rotate integrally in the same direction.

(Printing, Heating, and Cutting Operations on Tape-shaped Recording Medium) Next, operations of the printer 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the initial state, as shown in FIG. 11A, the position of the head position T (f) of the tape-shaped recording medium T is not guaranteed. Therefore, when the power is turned on, first, the paper feed motor 62 is driven, the tape-shaped recording medium T is retracted by the feed roller 61, and the leading end T (f) is set to the nip portion A of the feed roller 61 and the pressing roller 38. Position.

Next, when a print operation is instructed, the operation shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), the head T (f) of the tape-shaped recording medium
The cueing operation is performed. That is, the tape-shaped recording medium T
Is positioned at the printing start position B by the inkjet head 7. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 12 (B), the inkjet head 7 is driven while the transport of the tape-shaped recording medium T is continued by intermittent driving, and a predetermined Is printed.

Here, the portion of the tape-shaped recording medium T after printing is transported along the transport path between the front wall portion 34A and the upper guide wall 35 (see FIG. 6), and is placed on the upper end thereof. After passing between the arranged cutters 57, it reaches a transport path (heating area) defined by the plate-like heater 54 and the guide plate 55 inclined upward and rearward from there.

After the leading end T (f) of the tape-shaped recording medium T has reached the transport path defined by the heater, the tape-shaped recording medium T is temporarily stopped and moved by intermittent driving. It moves in this conveyance path in an intermittent feeding state. The printing surface of the tape-shaped recording medium T is heated and fixed by the plate-shaped heater 54 during the intermittent feeding.

Here, the heater 54 is driven in advance, is in a preheating state before printing, is heated at the same time as printing is started, and is heated to a temperature of about 130 degrees Celsius suitable for heating. During the continuation, the temperature is maintained. When the printing surface of the tape-shaped recording medium T is heated by the heater 54, the heat laminating layer 132 covering the surface is once melted and then hardened to be liquid-permeable, Change to a transparent layer. As a result, the printed ink absorbing layer 131 on the back side is in a state of being laminated and coated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13A, when the printing end position T (e) of the transported tape-shaped recording medium T reaches the cutting position C of the cutter 57, the cutter 57 is driven, The tape-shaped recording medium T is moved to its printing end position T (e).
Cut along.

The printed tape-shaped recording medium piece after cutting is
The pair of discharge rollers 56b, 56a allows the discharge port 101
It is conveyed to the side b and discharged therefrom. The ejected tape-shaped recording medium piece is attached to the release paper 135 on the back surface.
If you peel off, you can paste it where you want.

On the other hand, the cut tape-shaped recording medium T remaining in the ink jet printer before printing is again moved back by the feed roller 61 as shown in FIG. 13B. When the leading end T (f) of the tape-shaped recording medium T newly formed by the cutting returns to the nip portion A between the tape holding roller 38 (see FIG. 11A), the retreat operation is stopped. , And waits for the start of the next printing operation at that position.

As described above, in the ink jet printer of this embodiment, a tape-shaped recording medium having a configuration in which the printing surface is covered by the heat laminating layer is used. Therefore,
There is no need to arrange a supply section for the laminated paper as in the related art. Further, a transport mechanism for transporting the laminated paper in synchronization with the transport of the tape-shaped recording medium or a control mechanism therefor is not required.

In the present embodiment, a configuration is employed in which a cutter is disposed on the transport path between the heater and the printing position.
Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform the cutting and heat fixing operations of the tape-shaped recording medium provided with the heat lamination layer.

Further, after the printed tape-shaped recording medium enters the area heated by the heater, the tape-shaped recording medium is intermittently fed, so that the printing surface of the tape-shaped recording medium can be reliably heated. Therefore, the fusion of the thermal laminate layer can be reliably performed.

In addition to this, after cutting, the tape-shaped recording medium is retracted, and its leading position is returned to a position upstream of the ink jet head. If such a retreat operation is not performed, a portion of the tape-shaped recording medium between the printing position by the inkjet head and the cutting position by the cutter is wasted. Waste of the recording medium can be eliminated.

(Other Embodiments) The above description is an example in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer for printing on a tape-shaped recording medium fed from a tape cartridge. However, the invention is equally applicable to other inkjet printers.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, an ink jet printer provided with a detachable mounting portion for storing a plurality of cut-sheet-sized cut sheets Tb in a stacked state as a recording medium cartridge 3B as shown in FIG. The present invention can also be applied to Also in this case, a recording medium having a printing surface covered with a heat laminating layer may be used.

In the drawing, a waste ink absorbing portion 44B is provided at the rear end of the recording medium cartridge 3B, and an ink absorbing material 45B is incorporated therein. Further, one end of the waste ink collecting portion 44B protrudes in the lateral direction, and a tip 126a of the ink tube 126 is provided at that end.
Is formed with a connection port 401B for inserting the. A paper separation roller 61B is disposed on the side of the recording medium feed-out port 37B of the cartridge, and the recording medium Tb is pressed against the recording medium Tb by elastic force. The recording medium Tb can be fed out one by one from the upper side.

On the other hand, ink jet printers to which the present invention can be applied include cyan,
The present invention can be applied to a case in which a color printing is not performed by mounting three color ink tanks of magenta and yellow. For example, the present invention can be applied to an ink jet printer using only black ink, and can also be applied to an ink jet printer capable of mounting ink tanks of four or more colors.

For example, the present invention can be applied to an ink jet printer of a type in which ink tanks of three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow and white are mounted as ink tanks. In this case, cyan,
Compared to color printing using three colors of ink of magenta and yellow, color printing with more excellent color reproducibility can be performed. In particular, when a tape cartridge containing a transparent tape is mounted as a tape-shaped recording medium, color printing with good reproducibility can be realized using these four colors.

[0076]

As described above, the ink jet printer according to the present invention comprises a recording medium supply section, an ink jet head for printing on a recording medium fed from the recording medium, and a recording medium after printing by heating the recording medium. A configuration having a heating unit for fixing the attached ink droplets and a discharging unit for discharging the recording medium after the heat fixing is adopted,
As a recording medium, the surface of the ink absorbing layer that defines the printing surface is covered with a liquid-permeable heat laminate layer, and when this heat laminate layer is heated by a heating unit, it becomes a liquid-impermeable transparent layer. The thing is adopted.

Therefore, there is no need to separately supply laminated paper, bond it to a recording medium, and fix it by heating. What is necessary is just to heat the printing surface of the recording medium after printing. Therefore, the size of the printer body can be reduced, and a mechanism for synchronizing the laminated paper and the recording medium is not required. Further, since no laminated paper is attached to the recording medium, the printed recording medium does not become thick.

Further, in the present invention, when a tape-shaped recording medium is used, a configuration is adopted in which a cutting means is disposed on a transport path between an ink jet head and a heating means.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently perform the cutting of the tape-shaped recording medium and the heat fixing operation of the printed tape-shaped recording medium.

Further, in the present invention, a pair of rollers or a conveyor belt disposed opposite to the heating means is employed as the discharge mechanism. Therefore, even if the printed recording medium piece after cutting is short, it can be reliably discharged.

Further, in the present invention, after cutting the portion of the printed tape-shaped recording medium, the tape-shaped recording medium is retracted, and its head is returned to the upstream side in the transport direction from the printing position by the ink jet head. Like that. Therefore, the printing operation can be performed without wasting the tape-shaped recording medium.

In addition, in the present invention, the tape-shaped recording medium is intermittently fed in the heating area by the heating means, so that the tape-shaped recording medium can be sufficiently heated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet printer to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a portion of the printer of FIG. 1 taken along line II-II.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a drive mechanism unit of the printer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a planar configuration of a drive mechanism unit.

5 is a schematic side view of the drive mechanism unit of FIG. 3 as viewed from the side of arrow R in FIG.

6A and 6B are views showing a tape cartridge and a mounting portion thereof, FIG. 6A is a schematic sectional view, and FIG. 6B is an explanatory view showing a front wall thereof.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection mechanism between the tape cartridge and a tube on the printer main body side.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a waste ink collection path of the printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the recording medium cartridge.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a cross-sectional configuration of a tape-shaped recording medium.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a transport operation of the tape-shaped recording medium when power is turned on in the printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing from a cueing operation to a printing operation of the tape-shaped recording medium in the printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a retreating operation of the tape-shaped recording medium after cutting from a cutting operation of the tape-shaped recording medium in the printer of FIG. 1;

[Description of Signs] 1 ... Inkjet printer 101 ... Main body casing 2 ... Drive mechanism unit 3 ... Tape cartridge 31 ... Cartridge case 33 ... Tape roll 34 ... Front wall 34A / Front wall (Paper guide) 35, 36 Guide wall 35A Printing opening 37 Feeding port 38 Press roller 41 Plate spring 42 Ink recovery window 44 Waste ink recovery unit 45 Ink absorption Material 46 Entanglement prevention guide plate 47 Guide auxiliary plate 48 First waste ink recovery unit 49 Second waste ink recovery unit 4 Tape cartridge mounting unit 5 Transport path 54 ..Heater 55 guide plates 56a, 56b discharge roller 57 cutter 6 transport mechanism 61 feed roller 62 paper feed motor 63 Speed gear train 7 ... inkjet head T ... tape-shaped recording medium 131 .. ink absorbing layer 132 ... heat laminating layer 133 ... supporting layer 134 ... adhesive layer 135 ... release paper

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-21447 (JP, A) JP-A-4-363273 (JP, A) JP-A-7-112559 (JP, A) JP-A-4-255354 (JP) JP-A-7-214767 (JP, A) JP-A-62-121659 (JP, A) JP-A-2-45181 (JP, A) JP-A-7-214865 (JP, A) 6-2553089 (JP, A) JP-A-2-172747 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/01 B41J 3/36 B41J 11/70 B41J 29 / 00 B41M 5/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink-jet printer for performing printing by an ink-jet method on a tape-shaped recording medium covered with a liquid-permeable heat laminating layer in which an ink-absorbing layer is heat-fixable, wherein the recording medium is accommodated so as to be fed out. a cartridge mounting means for mounting the recording medium cartridge detachably, a transport mechanism for sending from the mounted recording medium cartridge feeding said recording medium, and an ink jet head for printing on a recording medium fed by the transport mechanism, wherein Printed area from the leading edge of the recording medium to the print end position
Between the minute and the unprinted part
Cutting means for cutting along , the printed portion disposed downstream of the cutting means,
And the printed part after cutting is
Jet printer characterized by having a a discharge means for sending to discharge the. 2. The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the printed portion is cut off.
2. The inkjet printer according to claim 1 , wherein after the cutting, the recording medium is reversely fed so that a leading end of the unprinted portion returns to a printing start position of the inkjet head. 3. 3. The discharge means includes a guide plate for guiding the printed portion to the outside, and a discharge path together with the guide plate facing the guide plate.
Plate heater for heating the printed portion while defining
When, characterized in that it comprises a inkjet printer of serial <br/> mounting in claim 1 or 2. Wherein said discharging means is characterized in that it comprises a pair of discharge rollers disposed by spaced in the feeding direction of the printed portion, to any one of claims 1 to 3 <br / > The described inkjet printer.