JP3473086B2 - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus having an improved ink ribbon winding mechanism suitable for a color printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in various printing devices such as color thermal transfer printers, a carriage for traveling on a platen for supporting a print medium and for printing on the print medium is internally provided. Has been done. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show the main parts of a color printer device in which a conventional carriage of this type is incorporated. 8, in this color printer apparatus, a carriage 3 having a thermal head (printing head) 1 and a winding top 2 is attached to a moving belt 5 rotated by a stepping motor 4 provided in the apparatus body,
It is movably provided along the platen of the apparatus body. As shown in FIG. 9, a DC motor 6 is provided inside the carriage 3, and a planet gear 8 is meshed with the DC motor 6 via a reduction gear 7.
A disk-shaped cam gear 9 is disposed on one side of the planetary gear 8, and an arm provided in a spiral cam groove 10 of the cam gear 9 is swingable with respect to a fulcrum 11. 12
Has one end engaged. The thermal head 1 is provided on the other end of the arm 12 so as to be retractable from the carriage 3. The winding gear 13 of the winding top 2 is arranged on the other side of the planetary gear 8.

In the color printer apparatus provided with such a carriage 3, when the DC motor 6 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 9 and the cam gear 9 is rotated clockwise through the reduction gear 7 and the planet gear 8. , The arm 12 engaged with the cam groove 10 of the cam gear 9 has a fulcrum 11
The thermal head 1 is pushed out in the direction of b in the figure with respect to the center of the carriage 3 and is projected from the carriage 3. Then, when the cam gear 9 rotates to a certain rotation angle, the protruding state of the thermal head 1 is held and printing becomes possible. Then, the planetary gear 8 that has rotated the cam gear 9 separates from the cam gear 9 and rotates in the direction a in the figure to mesh with the take-up gear 13, whereby the take-up top 2 rotates and the color ink. The ribbon is wound up.

By the way, in the above-mentioned color printer, it is necessary to locate the color ink ribbon.
That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the color ink ribbon has yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C).
Ink having three primary color dyes is arranged in a striped pattern in the running direction (length direction) of the film base, and a boundary between the three primary colors Y, M, and C that does not transmit light. Portions 14, 15 and 16 are formed. Here, the length l ₁ of the boundary portions 14, 15, 16 located on the front side of each color,
l ₂ and l ₃ are set to different length dimensions.
When the color ink ribbon is used for printing, color printing is performed by superimposing each of the three primary colors. Therefore, the carriage 3 is run, and then the carriage 3 is printed. Once moved to the home position, the sensor returns to the boundary 1
It is necessary to detect the next color by detecting the light-shielded time in 4 to 16, that is, to perform so-called color cueing.

[0005]

However, in the color printer device having the conventional carriage 3 described above, for example, the thermal head 1 is placed in the carriage 3 after the printing of yellow is completed at the end portion of the printing area. When the carriage 3 is moved back to the home position and the magenta of the next color is searched for, the cam gear 10 is first rotated in order to transmit the drive of the motor 4 to the winding top 2. Once the thermal head 1 is projected from the carriage 3 and then the thermal head 1 has a large friction when the carriage 3 is stopped and the color ink ribbon cannot be wound up, the carriage 3 is wound while running toward the printing area. The color ink ribbon is wound by rotating the take-up top 2. In parallel with this, the sensor is magnified. Is detected, the motor 6 is stopped at the time when this is detected, the traveling of the carriage 3 is stopped, and thereafter, the steps of returning the carriage 3 to the home position and starting the printing of magenta must be performed. I won't.

Therefore, according to the above-mentioned color printer, complicated movement of the carriage is required to find each color of the color ink ribbon, which is one of the factors that hinders shortening of the printing time and complicated control. There was a problem that required. Moreover, in addition to the stepping motor 4 for driving the carriage 3, D for controlling the attitude of the thermal head 1 and winding the color ink ribbon
Since the C motor 6 needs to be provided in the carriage 3,
After all, there was also a drawback that two motors had to be incorporated in the device.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional printing apparatus as described above. The ink ribbon can be cueed easily and easily, and the printing time can be shortened. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of performing various controls such as posture control of a print head, winding of an ink ribbon at the time of printing, and cueing of each color of the ink ribbon with one motor. .

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The printing apparatus according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, prepare for carriage apparatus body equipped with the take-up mechanism of the print head and the ink ribbon even without least
Obtaining travel freely disposed along the platen by the carriage driving unit, the take-up mechanism is a printing device which is driven by the traveling of the carriage, in the apparatus main body, the
A winding means is provided which is driven by being connected to the carriage driving means and is connected to the winding mechanism at the home position of the carriage to rotationally drive the winding mechanism to perform the heading of the ink ribbon. It is characterized by.

[0009] The printing apparatus of the present invention according to claim 2, along the platen by a carriage drive means comprises a carriage device body equipped with the take-up mechanism of the print head and the ink ribbon even without least A driving force generating mechanism for converting a linear motion due to the traveling into a rotary motion is provided on the carriage of the printing device provided so as to run freely, and the print head is attached to the platen side by rotation of one of the driving force generating mechanism. Control for urging and rotating the winding mechanism by connecting it to the ink ribbon winding mechanism, and separating the print head from the platen side by the other rotation and releasing the connection with the winding mechanism. And a mechanism for connecting the carriage drive means to the main body of the apparatus.
A winding unit is provided that is connected and driven, and is connected to the winding mechanism at the home position of the carriage to rotationally drive the winding mechanism to perform the heading of the ink ribbon. It is a thing.

Further, in a printing apparatus according to a third aspect, the driving force generating mechanism according to the second aspect is provided in a rack provided in the apparatus main body along the traveling direction of the carriage and in the carriage. The control mechanism includes a rack and a pinion that meshes with the rack, and the control mechanism is connected to the pinion to bias the print head toward the platen by rotating the pinion to rotate the pinion to the ink ribbon winding mechanism. It is provided with a clutch mechanism which transmits the rotational force to drive the winding mechanism, separates the print head from the platen side by the other rotation, and releases the connection with the winding mechanism.

[0011]

In addition, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects , wherein:
The motor includes a motor and a screw shaft that is connected to the motor through a gear train and that engages with the carriage to run the carriage. The winding means is provided at one end of the screw shaft. And a gear train which is rotated by the gear train and which is connected to the gear train and has its tip end portion extending toward the other end side in the traveling direction of the carriage, and is engaged with the winding mechanism by the traveling of the carriage.
And it is characterized in by comprising a withdrawal to Rukasa gear.

[0013]

According to the printing device of the first to third aspects, the ink ribbon can be cueed easily and easily independently of the movement of the carriage or the head, thus shortening the printing time. it becomes possible, also for the winding means to perform the beginning of the ink ribbon can be driven by the carriage drive means, child compact device
You can Further, according to according to the printing apparatus according to claim 4, in addition to the above action, the attitude control of Printout head one motor winding of the ink ribbon during printing, the ink ribbon colors cueing such various Control can be performed.

[0014]

1 to 7 show an embodiment in which the printing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a color printer apparatus.
1 to 4, the color printer device includes a platen 20 made of a rubber plate that supports paper as a print medium.
The apparatus main body 21 provided with, the paper feeding means 22 provided in the apparatus main body 21, the carriage 24 attached with the ribbon cassette 23 and movably along the platen 20, and the carriage 24. The carriage driving means 25 for driving is roughly configured.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus main body 21 has a paper supply table 26, and guide plates 27 provided on both sides of the supply table 26 for positioning and guiding the paper. The vertical support plates 28 and 29 provided upright on one end of the supply table 26, the paper detection sensor 30 for detecting the leading end position of the paper, and the vertical support plates 28 and 29 are installed between the vertical support plates 28 and 29, and the carriage 24 moves when the carriage 24 moves. Guide plate 31 whose upper edge slides
And a rack 32 formed along the guide plate 31. Further, the paper feeding means 22 has a stepping motor 33 as a drive source and a deceleration gear train 3 meshing with a drive gear 34 of the stepping motor 33.
5a to 5c and a final stage gear 35c are provided, and a rubber roller 36 for feeding the paper is provided above the supply table 26.
Is provided with a roller shaft 37 and a paper presser 38, and the roller shaft 37 on the discharge port 39a side is
A manual operation knob 39 is provided.

Then, the vertical support plate 2 of the apparatus main body 21.
The carriage driving means 25 is provided at the reference numerals 8 and 29. Reference numeral 40 in the drawing denotes a stepping motor (motor) which is a drive source of the carriage driving means 25, and a drive gear 41 of the stepping motor 40 is meshed with reduction gear trains 42a to 42c. There is. Then, the screw shaft 43 is attached to the gear 42c at the final stage.
Is provided, and a connection gear 44 is provided at the other end of the screw shaft 43. The connection gear 44 is provided with a shaft 45 rotatably erected on the vertical support plate 29.
The connecting gear 46 is meshed with the connecting gear 46, and the shaft 45 is provided with a bevel gear 47 at the tip thereof. The gear train formed by the connection gears 44 and 46, the shaft 45, and the beveled gear 47 constitute a winding means.

On the other hand, between the vertical support plates 28 and 29,
The carriage 24 is arranged. The carriage 24 includes a metal base portion 48 and a resin cover portion 49.
And a drive mechanism for engaging the screw shaft 43 of the carriage drive means 25 to move the carriage 4, and a posture of a thermal head (printing head). A control mechanism and a winding mechanism for winding the ink ribbon are mounted.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the drive mechanism of the carriage 4 includes a pair of bearing plates 5 cut and raised from the base portion 30.
0 and 50, and a latch A51 and a latch B52 which are arranged between the bearing plates 50 and 50 and on the outer periphery of the screw shaft 43, and which engage with saw-toothed concavo-convex portions formed between the facing surfaces. The latch B 52 and the bearing plate 50 are roughly constituted by a spring 53 interposed between them. That is, the latch A51 has protrusions 55, 55 formed on the inner wall 54 of the shaft hole, and the protrusion 55 is engaged with the thread groove of the screw shaft 43. A horizontal elongated hole 57 is formed in the attachment portion 56 of the latch B52, and the elongated hole 57 is attached to the base portion 48 with a screw 58.

The attitude control mechanism of the thermal head further includes a driving force generating mechanism for converting the linear traveling motion of the carriage 24 into a rotational motion inside thereof, and a posture of the thermal head connected to the driving force generating mechanism. It is roughly configured from a control mechanism for controlling. Here, the driving force generating mechanism is composed of a rack 32 provided on the apparatus main body 21 and a pinion 59 rotatably provided on the base portion 48 of the carriage 24 and meshing with the rack 32. .

On the other hand, the control mechanism has the pinion 59.
The clutch mechanism 60 is swingably connected to the. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the clutch mechanism 60 includes a shaft 61 protruding from the base portion 48 of the carriage 24, a clutch gear 62 that meshes with the pinion 59 provided on the shaft 61, and a felt friction member. A clutch plate 64 is attached via 63, and the clutch plate 64 is urged toward the clutch gear 62 side between the spring pressing plate 65 provided on the outer periphery of the shaft 61 and the clutch plate 64. A spring 66 is interposed, and the shaft 67 provided on the clutch plate 64 is provided with a clutch gear 6
A planetary gear 68 that meshes with the gear 2 is provided. In addition, the clutch plate 64 is for head pressing (down of the head
Part 70 for locking one end of the spring 69)
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, an arm 72 is swingably provided on a base portion 48 located below the clutch mechanism 60 via a bearing 71, and one end of the arm 72 is provided with another spring 69. The end is locked. At the other end of the arm 72, a thermal head 73, a heat radiating plate 74 for the thermal head 73, and a head returning (for head UP) spring 75 are provided.
Further, stopper projections 76 for locking the clutch plate 64 are provided at both ends of the swing range of the clutch mechanism 60, respectively.
77 is fixed.

Further, in the clutch mechanism 60, a connection gear 79 having a comb-shaped gear 78 on the upper surface, a winding shaft gear 81 meshed with the connection gear 79 via the connection gear 80, and the winding shaft. The ink ribbon take-up mechanism including the take-up shaft 82 formed at the tip of the gear 81 is provided. On the other hand, the cover portion 49 of the carriage 24 has a cutout 8 for exposing the pinion 59 to the outside.
3. Ink ribbon cassette locking projection 84, winding shaft 8
Two insertion holes 85, a protruding shaft 86 for inserting into the hole of the ribbon cassette, and a color detection sensor 87 for detecting the boundary portion of the heads of the respective colors of the ink ribbon are provided. In addition, a notch (not shown) is formed on a side surface of the cover portion 49 facing the vertical support plate 29 so that the bevel gear 47 can enter the carriage 24.

The ribbon cassette 23 is attached to the carriage 24. As shown in FIG. 1, the ribbon cassette 23 includes a winding spool 88 in which a color ink ribbon 91 is wound inside a cassette case 23a.
And a take-up spool 89, and the take-up shaft 82 is inserted into the take-up spool 89. The ribbon cassette 23 has a recess 90 formed on the outer periphery thereof.
Are attached to the carriage 24 by engaging the locking projections 84 ... Of the cover portion 49 of the carriage 24. Then, in the ribbon cassette 23, as shown in FIG.
0 (yellow), magenta (M),
A color ink ribbon 91 in which inks having cyan (C) three primary color dyes are arranged in a striped pattern in the running direction (length direction) of the film base is wound.

1 and 2, reference numeral 92
Reference numeral 93 denotes a carriage position detection sensor provided on the guide plate 31 of the apparatus main body 21 for detecting the position of the carriage 24 on the traveling path, and 93 denotes a position detection portion provided on the carriage 24. Further, reference numeral 94 is provided on the base portion 48 of the carriage 24 and is provided on the vertical support plate 2
It is a stopper that abuts against 9.

Next, the operation of the color printer device having the above-described configuration will be described mainly with respect to the operation of finding the head of each color in the color ink ribbon 91. First,
When the detection sensor 30 detects the paper which is the medium to be printed, the stepping motor 33 of the paper feeding means 22 operates to perform the initial predetermined paper feeding to the paper. Next, the carriage 24 performs the first yellow printing while moving from the home position shown in FIG. 5 toward the printing area on the left side of the drawing. At this time, at the home position, the thermal head (printing head) 73 is separated from the platen 20, and the gear 59 and the winding shaft gear 81 are not connected.
Therefore, when the carriage 24 moves toward the printing area and reaches the print start position shown in FIG. 6, the pinion 59 meshing with the rack 32 rotates and meshes with the pinion 59 as the carriage 24 moves. The clutch gear 62 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the planet gear 68 meshed with the clutch gear 62 and pivotally supported by the clutch plate 64 rotates in the direction of the arrow, so that the clutch plate 64 rotates toward the stopper projection 77. Move. As a result, the thermal head 73 is pressed against the platen 20 by the tensile force of the spring 69. In parallel with this, the pinion 59 and the winding shaft gear 81 are connected via the clutch gear 62 and the planet gear 68, and the ink ribbon 91 is sequentially wound as the carriage 24 moves. . In this state, even if the pinion 59 is rotated by the movement of the carriage 24, the movement of the clutch plate 64 is stopped by the stopper projection 77, so that the clutch mechanism of FIG.
A slip occurs between the clutch gear 62 and the clutch gear 62, and only the clutch gear 62 rotates. Further, at this time, since the detection signal of the carriage position detection sensor 92 is generated immediately before the printing start position to detect the position of the carriage 24, the carriage drive means 25 is controlled by a control device (not shown) at a predetermined timing based on the detection signal. Is started, and the print signal (yellow print signal) is synchronized with this
Is sent to the print head 73, and yellow printing is performed.

Next, when the yellow printing by the carriage 24 is completed at the position shown in FIG. 7, the motor 40 of the carriage driving means 25 is rotated in the reverse direction by the control of the control device (not shown), and the carriage 24 is returned toward the home position. Moving. At this time, the pinion 59 rotates in the opposite direction and the clutch plate 64 rotates from the position where it abuts against the stopper protrusion 77 toward the stopper protrusion 76, so that the tension force of the spring 69 is relaxed while the spring 7 is released.
The thermal head 73 is lifted and separated from the platen 20 by the tensile force of 5, and the connection between the pinion 59 and the take-up shaft gear 81 is cut off. As a result, the ink ribbon 91 is not taken up. And then, in FIG.
When the carriage 24 returns to the home position, as shown in, the next color, magenta, which is the next color, is cued. That is, the carriage driving means 25 is controlled by a control device (not shown) so as to drive the carriage 24 in a direction to move the carriage 24 in the returning direction to the right in the drawing even when the carriage 24 reaches the home position. Then, with respect to the latch A engaged with the screw shaft 43, the latch B is separated from the latch A against the spring 53, and the serrated irregularities of the latch B idle and the carriage 24 stops. , Connecting gear 4
The magenta of the ink ribbon is cued by rotationally driving the take-up shaft 82 via the Nos. 4, 46, the Bevel gears 47, 78, the connection gear 79, and the take-up shaft gear 81. After the color detection sensor 87 finds the magenta color, the controller 40 reversely controls the motor 40 of the carriage driving means 25 to perform the same operation as in the case of the yellow color. Is performed, and the above-described operations are sequentially repeated, whereby the above-described three primary color printing is performed.

Therefore, according to the color printer device having the above-described structure, after the printing in the first color is performed, the carriage 24 is returned to the home position,
The cue for the next color can be performed by engaging the cue-back gear 47 of the take-up means with the cue-beater gear 78 of the take-up mechanism of the carriage 24. It is possible to easily and easily perform the cueing of the above-mentioned color without the need to control the attitude of the thermal head, and thus the printing time can be shortened. In addition, with only one stepping motor 40, the carriage 24 is driven and various controls such as attitude control of the thermal head 73, winding of the ink ribbon 91 during printing, and cueing of each color on the ink ribbon 91 are performed. Therefore, it is economical, and the entire apparatus can be made more compact.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the printing apparatus of the present invention is freely traveling along the platen by a carriage drive means of the carriage mounted with the take-up mechanism of the print head and the ink ribbon even without least comprises the device main body The carriage driving means is provided in the apparatus body of the printing apparatus provided.
Since a winding means for rotating and driving the winding mechanism to feed the ink ribbon is provided by connecting the winding mechanism to the winding mechanism at the home position of the carriage, a complicated carriage is provided. It is possible to easily and easily find the color of the ink ribbon without the need for the movement of the print head and the attitude control of the print head, thus shortening the printing time. Is obtained.
Further, since the winding means is connected to and driven by the carriage driving means provided in the main body of the apparatus, in addition to the traveling drive of the carriage,
Based on the drive of the drive means, it is possible to perform various controls such as attitude control of the print head, winding of the ink ribbon at the time of printing, and indexing of each color of the ink ribbon. It becomes possible to achieve further compactness.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a carriage portion of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing an engaging portion between a carriage and a screw shaft of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a clutch mechanism in the carriage of FIG.

5 is a front view showing a state where the carriage of FIG. 1 is at a home position.

6 is a front view showing a state where the carriage of FIG. 5 has moved to a print start position.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which the carriage of FIG. 6 is at a print end position.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a conventional printing apparatus.

9 is a front view showing the internal structure of the carriage of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing the configuration of a general color ink ribbon.

[Explanation of symbols] 20 Platen 21 Device body 22 Paper feeding means 23 Ribbon cassette 24 carriage 25 Carriage drive means 28, 29 Vertical support plate 31 Guide plate 32 racks 40 Stepping motor (motor) 41 drive gear 42a-c Reduction gear train 43 screw shaft 44, 46 connecting gear 45 axes 47, 78 Kusakusa gear 48 Base 49 Cover 59 Pinion 60 clutch mechanism 62 clutch gear 68 planetary gears 69 spring (for head DOWN) 72 arms 73 Thermal head (print head) 75 spring (for head UP) 76, 77 stopper protrusion 79, 80 connection gear 81 Winding shaft gear 82 winding shaft 87 Color detection sensor 91 color ink ribbon

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A even without least travel freely disposed along the platen by the <br/> carriage drive means of the carriage mounted with the take-up mechanism of the print head and the ink ribbon is provided in the apparatus main body, the take-up In a printing apparatus in which a mechanism is driven by traveling of the carriage, the apparatus main body is connected to the carriage driving means.
Being driven, by connecting with the winding mechanism in the home position of the carriage, the winding mechanism driven to rotate the printing apparatus characterized in that a winding means for performing the beginning of the ink ribbon. 2. A printing device provided freely travel along the platen by even without least in <br/> carriage drive means of the carriage mounted with the take-up mechanism of the print head and the ink ribbon is provided in the apparatus main body A driving force generating mechanism for converting the linear motion of the traveling into a rotary motion on the carriage, and the rotation of one of the driving force generating mechanism biases the print head toward the platen and winds the ink ribbon. A control mechanism that is connected to the take-up mechanism to drive the take-up mechanism to rotate, and that the other rotation separates the print head from the platen side and releases the connection with the take-up mechanism. Connected to the carriage drive means
Being driven, by connecting with the winding mechanism in the home position of the carriage, the winding mechanism driven to rotate the printing apparatus characterized in that a winding means for performing the beginning of the ink ribbon. 3. The driving force generating mechanism includes a rack provided in the apparatus main body along a traveling direction of the carriage, and a pinion provided in the carriage and meshing with the rack. The control mechanism is connected to the pinion to bias the print head toward the platen by rotating the pinion to one side, and transmits the rotation of the pinion to the winding mechanism of the ink ribbon to wind the winding mechanism. 3. The printing according to claim 2, further comprising: a clutch mechanism for rotating the print head and separating the print head from the platen side by the other rotation and releasing the connection with the winding mechanism. apparatus. 4. The carriage driving means includes a motor,
It is connected to this motor via a gear train and
Screen that engages the carriage and drives the carriage.
A winding shaft, and the winding means is
It is installed at one end of the screw shaft and makes a rotary motion.
The gear train is connected to this gear train and the tip is
It extends toward the other end of the carriage in the running direction, and
Is the clutch engaged or disengaged with the winding mechanism as the carriage travels?
4. A bevel gear according to claim 1, wherein the bevel gear is provided.
The printing device according to any one.