JPS64227B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal printer that performs recording using a plurality of heat generating elements.

Thermal printers that use a thermal head to record information on recording paper are non-impact type, so they generate less noise, have a simple structure, have a small number of components, are small and inexpensive, and are widely used. Among these, thermal printers that transfer an ink layer adjacent to a thermal head onto plain paper or the like have the great advantage that the recording paper has a high shelf life and does not require the use of special paper such as thermal paper.

In recent years, as the printing speed of such thermal printers has improved, the method of heating the thermal head has become a problem. That is, it is desired to improve the start-up of high-speed printing and the printing performance thereof.

Conventionally, as a solution to the above-mentioned problem, heating of the head using an auxiliary heating element has been carried out. That is, a thermal head having a heating element for recording information is heated in advance to a temperature below the melting point of the transfer ink, thereby increasing the response of the heating element for recording information in the thermal head. However, this heating method using the auxiliary heat generating element heats parts other than the heat generating element for information recording, such as the tape having the transfer ink layer, which may stain the recording paper and significantly reduce the print quality. It was difficult to control the temperature.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer which improves the drawbacks of the above-mentioned auxiliary heat generation, facilitates auxiliary heat generation, and enables high-speed, high-quality printing.

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

In addition, in the embodiment described below, in order to perform recording by selectively heating a heat generating element provided in the head, an auxiliary heat generating element for preheating the head in the vicinity of the heat generating element, and an auxiliary heat generating element for preheating the head, and the auxiliary heat generating element are provided near the heat generating element. The thermal printer is characterized in that it has an isolating means provided close to the heat generating element, and the heat generated from the auxiliary heat generating element is efficiently transmitted to the head by the isolating means.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal printer showing an embodiment according to the present invention. Thermal head 101
The heated ink on the transfer tape 102 melts and records character information on the plain paper 103.
As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 104 loaded with the transfer tape 102 moves along the guide rail 105
Moving in the -X' axis direction, the thermal head 101 records character information one after another in the row direction. Also recording paper 10
For line feeding in step 3, the platen roller 106 is driven by a pulse motor or the like (not shown) to move the paper in the Y direction.

FIG. 3 is a detailed explanatory diagram of the thermal head 101. In the figure, the thermal head 101 has a plurality of heat generating elements 107, and the plurality of heat generating elements 1
It has auxiliary heating elements 108A and 108B on the same plane as 07. The heat generated by the auxiliary heating elements 108A and 108B is transferred to the transfer tape 1 near the auxiliary heating elements 108A and 108B.
As a member for preventing the transmission of electricity to
is located. The transfer tape 102 is set and driven by feed rollers 189A and 189B so as to be parallel to the pattern surface of the thermal head 102.

The operation of the printer configured as described above will be further explained.

A plurality of heat generating elements 107 and auxiliary heat generating elements 108A and 108B are on the same plane on the pattern surface of the thermal head 102, and the transfer tape 10 is placed on the surface thereof.
2 runs. During recording, the heat generating element 107, transfer tape 102, and recording paper 103 are pressed together by a platen roller 106. Auxiliary heating element 10
Near both sides of the pattern surface of 8A, B are cylinders 109A, B, C, with low thermal conductivity, as shown in FIG.
D (for example, glass fiber, etc.) is the transfer tape 1
02 so as not to come into contact with the auxiliary heating elements 108A and 108B to prevent melting of ink and staining of the recording paper 102. In this case, the gap d between the surfaces of the auxiliary heating elements 108A and 108B and the transfer tape 102 may be small. For example, increase the temperature of multiple heating elements by auxiliary heating to 50 to 60℃.
When controlling the pressing force of the platen rubber 106 to about 500 g, the gap d should be 0.3 to 0.5 mm.
This enabled high-speed, clear printing without staining the paper, which was the intended goal. However, in this case, it goes without saying that the cylinder should be installed in such a way that it does not interfere with the running of the transfer tape. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a front view of FIG. 6. That is, contact prevention materials 110A, 110B with low thermal conductivity (for example, nylon flocking, etc.) are installed on the surfaces of the auxiliary heat generating elements 108A, B to prevent heat from the auxiliary heat generating elements 108A, B from being transmitted to the transfer tape 102. It is something.

FIG. 8 shows a member 111A with low thermal conductivity on the side surface of a thermal head according to another embodiment of the present invention.
B is provided, and the auxiliary heating element 108 is provided with such a member.
A gap is provided between A and B and the transfer tape 102 and filled with a substance with low thermal conductivity (for example, air).

As described above, according to the present invention, the auxiliary heat generating element is provided on the same head plane as the main heat generating element and in a direction that crosses the travel path of the transfer tape, and then the auxiliary heat generating element thus provided is Since the separating members are arranged on both sides in a direction that also crosses the running path of the transfer tape, the auxiliary heat generating element can be provided on the head plane in the same process as the main heat generating element, so the manufacturing process can be shortened and the To provide a thermal printer which can prevent an auxiliary heating element from coming into contact with the running transfer tape with higher accuracy even when the transfer tape is running, and has improved heat generation efficiency and recording quality. be able to.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of the printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the thermal head portion of the printer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a view of the vicinity of the thermal head shown in FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a front view of the thermal head, FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the thermal head. , 8th
The figure is a sectional view explaining another embodiment according to the present invention, 109A, B, C, D...Cylinder, 110A, 1
10B...Contact prevention material, 111A, 111B...
Element.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A thermal printer that records on recording paper using a transfer tape having ink, comprising: a tape conveying means for running the transfer tape; a head; a plurality of main heat generating elements capable of selectively generating heat in order to perform recording on a recording paper by heating a tape and transferring ink contained in the transfer tape onto a recording paper; and the head plane which is the same as the main heat generating element. an auxiliary heat generating element for preheating the head, the auxiliary heat generating element being disposed above the transfer tape in a direction crossing the running path of the transfer tape run by the tape conveying means; the auxiliary heat generating element and the transfer tape; provided on both sides of the auxiliary heat generating element in a direction that crosses the running path of the transfer tape run by the tape transport means so as not to contact with each other;
A thermal printer comprising: a separating member for separating the auxiliary heating element and the transfer tape.