JPH0725186B2 - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer.

[Conventional technology]

A color material on the ink sheet that is made by coating a color layer containing a heat-melting or heat-sublimating color material on a very thin film made of resin or paper and closely contacting it with the image receiving paper and heating it with a thermal head. A so-called thermal transfer printer, which forms an image by transferring the image onto an image receiving paper, is already known and widely used.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, conventional thermal transfer printers supply ink sheets, which are consumable items, and remove used ink sheets separately, and printing becomes impossible when the ink sheets are used up. Met. Further, especially in the case of a line type thermal transfer printer using a line type thermal head, an extremely thin ink sheet having a width substantially equal to the width of the image receiving paper has to be handled, so that a more complicated operation is required. There was a problem.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the conventional problems, in a thermal transfer printer including a thermal head and a platen arranged so as to face the thermal head, a first housing for accommodating an unused ink sheet is provided. And a second housing provided with an ink sheet take-up roller to which the start end of the ink sheet is attached, and a recording material cassette in which the first housing and the second housing are detachable from each other. When the recording material cassette is loaded in the printer, the first housing and the second housing are separated from each other, and the ink sheet stretched between them is arranged so as to be located between the thermal head and the platen. When removing the recording material cassette from the printer, the first housing and the second housing
When the ink sheet is housed in the space defined by the two housings, the ink sheet is housed again.

In the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, a recording material cassette having an image receiving paper storage portion formed in the first housing may be used. Further, a recording material cassette in which an image receiving paper storage portion is formed in the second housing may be used.

Further, in the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the mounting port for loading the recording material cassette, the mounting port, and the first position set at a position deeper than the position where the thermal head and the platen face each other.
Transporting means for transporting the recording material cassette to and from the predetermined position, and first holding means for fixing either one of the first housing or the second housing to the first predetermined position. After fixing the one of the housings, the other of the unfixed housings conveyed by the conveying means is fixed at a second predetermined position set between the mounting opening and the facing position. You may have a holding means (4th Embodiment term). In the case of the fourth embodiment, the recording material cassette in which the image receiving paper storage portion is formed in the other housing may be used. Further, in the case of the fourth embodiment, a detection means for detecting the position of the recording material cassette and the state of coalescence / separation may be provided in the transport path of the recording material cassette. Further, in the case of the fourth embodiment, a detecting means for detecting the position of the recording material cassette and the state of coalescence / separation is provided in the conveying path of the recording material cassette, and the detecting means is arranged in order from the side closer to the mounting opening. A first, a second, and a third detector, such as a limit switch, a photointerrupter switch, and a magnetic sensor switch, which are arranged in the conveyance path, are included, and the distance between the first and the third detectors is set to the combined state. The recording material cassette may be made longer than the total length, and the distance between the first and second detectors may be made shorter than the other total length.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples. The "ink sheet storage section" of the present invention corresponds to the ink sheet supply chamber 5 in the Examples, and the "image receiving sheet storage section" is the image receiving sheet supply chamber. 3 is equivalent to "the ink sheet storage part and the image receiving paper storage part are integrated" corresponds to the main body part, and is a "detector".
Corresponds to the limit switch LSw.

〔Example〕

An example of a thermal transfer color printer using a line printer type thermal head will be described below.

-Table of contents- 1. Main body 1a ...... Pages 13 to 16 2. Ink sheet 4 ...... Pages 16 to 17 3. Ink sheet take-up unit 1b ...... Pages 17 to 4. 4. Coupling / separation mechanism of cassette 1 itself ... ... Pages 18-19 5. After loading the cassette in the printer, automatic loading, unloading,
Cassette drive mechanism that guides and drives this during ejection ...
Page 21 to 24 6. Lock mechanism section of cassette body 1a ...... Page 24 to 25 7. Lock mechanism section of ink sheet supply roller 13 ...... 25 to
Page 26 8. Retaining mechanism of ink sheet take-up section 1b ...... 26th to 29th
Page 9. Ink sheet take-up mechanism ...... Page 29 to 30 10. Image receiving paper sending mechanism that sends the image receiving paper 2 to the platen mechanism ...... Page 30 to 37 10.1 Rotating mechanism of the image receiving paper sending roller 70 …… 30th to 33rd
Page 10.2 Vertical mechanism of the image receiving paper feed roller 70 …… No. 33 to 37
Page 11. Platen mechanism ...... Page 37 to 42 11.1 Platen 76 ...... Page 37 to 41 11.2 Platen 76 rotation mechanism ...... Page 41 to 42 12. Thermal head 36 lift mechanism ...... 42 Page 46 13. Guide mechanism of image receiving paper 2 to platen 76 and discharge mechanism ......
Pages 46 to 50 14. Limit switch group for cassette position detection …… 51 to 5
Page 3 15. Automatic loading operation of cassette 1 ・ ・ ・ Page 54-56 16. Separation operation of cassette 1 ・ ・ ・ Page 56-59 17. Movement operation of thermal head 36 from low position to middle position
...... Page 60-61 18. Feeding operation of image receiving paper 2 ...... Page 61-64 19. Chucking image receiving paper 2 to the platen 76 ...... 64-6
Page 5 20. Winding up and stopping the ink sheet 4 ...... Page 66 21. Thermal head 36 movement from middle position to high position
...... Page 67 to 68 22.Y color print operation ...... Page 69 to 72 23.M color print preparation ...... Page 72 to 74 24.M color print operation ...... Page 74 25.C color print preparation …… Page 74 26. C color printing operation …… Page 75 27. Discharging operation of the image receiving paper 2 for which printing is completed …… 75th to 7th
Page 9 28. How to end the printing operation when the last image-receiving paper 2 in the cassette is printed …… Page 79-81 29. Combined operation of cassette 1 …… Page 81-82 30. Eject operation of cassette 1 ... Pages 82-83 The cassette 1 of this embodiment mainly comprises: 1. a main body 1a 2. an ink sheet 4 3. an ink sheet winding portion 1b.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the recording material cassette 1 of this embodiment as viewed from above, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of its bottom.

The cassette 1 is composed of a cassette body 1a and an ink sheet take-up portion 1b containing an ink sheet take-up roller 14, and the take-up portion 1b is detachably coupled to the body portion 1a as described later. .

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette 1 is in the united state as referred to in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the cassette 1 in a separated state.

1. Main body 1a The main body 1a is protected by a thin rectangular parallelepiped housing 6, which is made up of a stack of cut paper-shaped image receiving papers 2 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. The received image receiving paper supply chamber 3 and the unused ink sheet 4 wound in a roll paper shape
Is divided into ink sheet supply chambers 5 that store the ink.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the image receiving paper supply chamber 3, there is an image receiving paper support plate 8 biased upward by a compression spring 7, and the image receiving paper 2 is constantly pressed against the upper part of the housing 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, an image receiving paper feeding roller hole 9a and an image receiving paper discharge port 9b are opened in the upper part of the housing 6, and the image receiving paper feeding roller 70 shown in FIG. Comes down and comes into contact with the image receiving paper 2, and when this roller rotates, the image receiving paper 2 is sent out one by one from the image receiving paper discharge port 9b.

In addition, a window 10 is provided in the upper part of the housing 6 to detect whether or not the image receiving paper 2 is present and to detect detection light and to detect reflected light from the image receiving paper 2. Image receiving paper 2
Is generally white and has a high reflectance. Therefore, if the mounting plate 8 is made to have a low reflectance or a mark having a low reflectance is provided at a position where the detection light strikes, the reflected light of the reflected light is lost when the image receiving paper 2 is used up. Since the light amount decreases, the presence or absence of the image receiving paper 2 can be detected by detecting the change in the light amount with the second photodetector (OP-2) shown in FIG. The amount of the cut paper-shaped image receiving paper 2 and the amount of the roll paper-shaped ink sheet 4 are initially set to correspond to 1: 1. Therefore, in order to know the end replacement timing of the cassette 1,
It may be detected that the image receiving paper 2 is not present, and the ink sheet 4
Although it may be detected that there is no image, since the image receiving paper 2 is in the form of a cut paper, there is a risk of double feeding (a phenomenon in which two or more sheets are sent at the same time). In that case, the ink sheet 4
However, since the image receiving paper 2 is used up and the cassette 1 must be replaced even when the image receiving paper 2 still remains, the detector is preferably provided on the image receiving paper 2 side.

On the other hand, at the bottom of the housing 6, as shown in FIG.
A main body locking hole 11a is provided on the middle left side, an ink sheet supply roller locking hole 11b is provided on the right side near the back surface, and a cassette separating notch hole 11c is provided on both left and right sides of the rear end.

As shown in FIG. 3, guide grooves 12 for engaging the housing 15 of the ink sheet take-up portion 1b are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the housing 6, respectively, and the protruding pieces 15a of the housing 15 are provided therein. Engage horizontally.

As shown in FIG. 5, an ink sheet supply chamber 5 is provided on the back side of the housing 6, and an ink sheet supply roller 13 is rotatably attached to the inside of the supply chamber 5. The ink sheet 4 is wound into a roll paper.

A rubber ring 13a is arranged at one end of the ink sheet supply roller.

As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 6 has an opening on the back surface as a whole, and the other end of the ink sheet 4 is wound around the ink sheet winding roller 14 of the ink sheet winding portion 1b as shown in FIG. I put it on. Therefore, the ink sheet 4 can be wound by rotating the roller 14.

2. Ink sheet 4 FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ink sheet 4, and the ink sheet has a roll shape and one end is an ink sheet supply roller.
It is wound around 13, and the other end is wound around an ink sheet winding roller 14.

The ink sheet 4 comprises a support sheet, for example, a polyethylene terephthalate sheet having a thickness of 4 to 20 .mu.m, and a colored layer (ink layer) applied thereon. The colored layer is divided into areas having shapes and dimensions corresponding to the image receiving paper 2, and the areas of the areas are made different in order of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), This Y,
The areas M and C are repeated in order. As already known, the composition of the ink layer is composed of, for example, a color material corresponding to each color tone, such as a thermally sublimable coloring material (sublimable dye) and a vehicle (resin content).

3. Ink sheet take-up section 1b As shown in FIG. 3, the ink sheet take-up section 1b is composed of an ink sheet take-up roller 14 and a horizontally long housing 15 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape for accommodating the ink sheet take-up roller 14. On the surface, a protrusion 15a extends toward the front. The protrusion 15a engages with the guide groove 12 of the image receiving paper portion housing 6.

As shown in FIG. 5, the roller 14 is rotatably mounted in the storage chamber of the ink sheet take-up roller 14.
A gear 14 having a larger outer diameter than the roller 14 is provided at the right end of the roller 14.
a is fixed.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ink sheet take-up gear hole 16 is opened on the right side of the upper surface of the housing 15, and the gear 14a can be seen from there. As shown in FIG. 13, an external drive gear 113 meshes with the gear 14a to rotate the roller 14.

4. Coupling / separation mechanism of cassette 1 itself As described above, the cassette 1 can be separated / coupled into the main body portion 1a and the ink sheet winding portion 1b. This mechanism will be described.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting the cassette 1 of FIG. 5 along a plane perpendicular to the paper plane passing through X ₁ -X ₁ , and the left and right inner side bottom surfaces of the housing 15 of the ink sheet take-up portion 1b. In the vicinity, cassette coupling levers 17b each having one end pivotally supported by a lever shaft 17a are provided. The lever 17b is urged downward by one end of a lever return spring 17c having a substantially V shape, and the spring 17c has a spring winding shaft 17d at the apex of V.
Attached to the side wall of the housing 15.

On the other hand, the cassette coupling lever 17b has a notch 17e, and a lever hooking pin 18 provided near the bottom surface of both sides of the housing 6 of the main body portion 1a is locked in the cassette coupling lever 17b to lock the cassette 1. It cannot be separated.

However, if the cassette coupling lever 17b pivots upward on the lever shaft 17a and disengages from the lever hooking pin 18, the lock is released and the cassette can be separated.

Next, the structure of a thermal transfer color printer using the recording material cassette 1 will be described.

FIG. 8 shows the appearance of the printer with the cassette 1 mounted, and on the front side there is a cassette mounting port 24 in the middle of the left side, and a discharge port 25 for printed image receiving paper (hereinafter also referred to as print) 25 on it. Each of them has an opening, and a print switch 116 and a power switch 115 are provided on the right side, and a display unit 117 is mounted on the print switch 116 and the power switch 115.

The cassette 1 is inserted from the mounting port 24 as shown in FIG. 8, and the completed printer is ejected from the ejection port 25.

FIG. 9 shows an outline of the mechanical arrangement inside the printer. As shown in the figure, when roughly divided, it is disassembled into an upper part and a lower part, and the upper and lower parts can be opened and closed with a pin 118 provided on the upper part as a rotation center. The bearing of the pin provided at the bottom is not shown. Furthermore, when divided by function, the following nine block configuration is obtained.

5. After loading the cassette in the printer, automatic loading, unloading,
Cassette drive mechanism that guides and drives this during ejection 6. Lock mechanism of cassette body 1a 7. Lock mechanism of ink sheet supply roller 13. Holding mechanism of ink sheet take-up unit 1b 9. Ink sheet winding Image pick-up mechanism section 10. Image-receiving paper feed-out mechanism section that sends the image-receiving paper 2 to the platen mechanism section 11. Platen mechanism section 12. Elevating mechanism section of the thermal head 36. 13. Guide mechanism of the image-receiving paper 2 to the platen 76 and discharge mechanism section In the lower right part of the figure, 5, 6, 7, and 10 are
There are 12 in the center, 8 and 9 in the upper left, 13 in the upper part from the lower right to the center, and 11 in the upper left.

Hereinafter, each mechanism will be described in detail.

5. Cassette Drive Mechanism Section FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an outline of the cassette drive mechanism section and the ink sheet winding section holding mechanism section.

The cassette drive mechanism section includes left and right cassette guides 31, 32 and a drive power source and a drive mechanism located in the middle thereof. A first limit switch LSw1 and a second limit switch LSw2 are disposed near the tip (back) of the left cassette guide 32 and near the middle, respectively, to detect the position of the cassette 1 when it is loaded, loaded, and unloaded. .

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing a driving force transmission mechanism of the entire printer. Explaining with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the gear 71 fixed to the output shaft of the second motor 29 meshes with the gear 72. The rotating shaft 73 to which the gear 72 is fixed is coupled to the input shaft of the first electromagnetic clutch 35, and
A gear 26 is attached to the output shaft of the. And the tenth
As shown in FIG. 12, a shaft 88a and a shaft 88b are fixed to a plate 88 shown in the figure.

A gear 27 that meshes with the gear 26 is rotatably attached to the shaft 88a as shown in FIG.
A gear 28 that meshes with is rotatably mounted on the shaft 88b. That is, the gear 2
7 and 28 rotate freely.

As shown in FIG. 12, a cassette moving rubber roller 30 is integrally connected to the gear 28 with the shaft 88b as a common shaft, and the roller 30 rotates together with the gear 28.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, when the second motor 29 rotates,
This rotational force is gear 71 → gear 72 → shaft 73 → gear 26 → gear 27 →
It is transmitted from the gear 28 to the rubber roller 30.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, a relatively rotatable shaft 89 is fitted in the inner diameter portion of a shaft 88a fixed to the plate 88, and one end of the shaft 89 is fixed to the right cassette guide 31. . Therefore, the plate 88 can rotate up and down with the shaft 89 as a rotation axis.

The plate 88 is urged upward by the torsion spring 91 as shown in FIG. 12 with the shaft 89 as the center of rotation, and is rotatable until it comes into contact with the plate rotation limiting pin 90 shown in FIG. As a result, the rubber roller 30 can revolve around the shaft 89 as the center of rotation and is always biased upward.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the cassette 1 is inserted into the cassette guides 31 and 32, and the tip of the cassette 1 is a rubber roller.
When the cassette 1 is brought into contact with the cassette 30 and is further advanced by the operator, the rubber roller 30 is pushed downward by the cassette 1 with the shaft 89 as the center of rotation, and the rubber roller 30 comes into contact with the bottom of the cassette 1. . Moreover, the rubber roller 30 is in strong contact with the bottom of the cassette 1 by the torsion spring 91.

Therefore, the rotation of the second motor 29 is transmitted to the rubber roller 30, and the cassette 1 is loaded and unloaded.

6. Locking Mechanism of Main Body 1a When the ink sheet winding portion 1b rotates the roller 14 to wind the ink sheet 4, the main body portion 1a needs to be fixed. This is the main body lock mechanism section.

As shown in FIG. 10, there is a first solenoid 33 with a return spring inside the left cassette guide 32, and when the solenoid 33 is energized and turned on, it resists the urging force of the return spring. Plunger 34 is retracted into the solenoid.
Then, when turned off, the urging force of the return spring causes the plunger 34 to project from the inside of the solenoid.

Since the head of the plunger 34 has a hemispherical shape, even if the cassette 1 or the main body 1a approaches and abuts on the plunger 34, the plunger 34 goes under the bottom of the cassette 1 or the main body 1a. There is no problem in moving the cassette 1 or the main body 1a. When the position of the hole 11a of the housing 6 coincides with the position of the head of the plunger 34, the plunger 34 is projected by the urging force of the return spring and fitted into the hole 11a. Thereby, the movement of the cassette 1 or the main body 1a is stopped, and at the same time, it is locked.

Since there is little time to pull the plunger 34 into the solenoid throughout, the solenoid 33 with a return spring is used to shorten the time to turn it on to save power consumption.

7. Locking Mechanism of Ink Sheet Supply Roller 13 As described later, it is necessary to lock the ink sheet supply roller 13 in order to remove the slack of the ink sheet during printing.

As shown in FIG. 10, the second solenoid 86 with a return spring is installed inside the inner side of the right side cassette guide 31. Therefore, in the OFF state, the plunger 87 is pulled downward by the urging force of the return spring. In the ON state, the plunger 87 projects upward against the biasing force of the return spring.
Then, the upper portion of the projecting plunger 87 enters into the hole 11b provided in the bottom portion of the main body 1a of the cassette 1, and the rubber ring 13a provided at the end of the ink sheet supply roller is strongly pressed, whereby the supply roller 13 rotates. Is locked.

8. Holding Mechanism Section 19 of Ink Sheet Take-Up Section 1b As shown in FIG. 10, the holding mechanism section 19 of the ink sheet take-up section 1b is in the second state according to the present invention.
The cassette 1 is divided into a main body portion 1a and an ink sheet take-up portion 1b, and is divided into a holding mechanism portion for locking the take-up portion 1b and an ink sheet take-up mechanism portion. Be disassembled. Here, the holding mechanism will be described, and the rest will be described in the next section.

As shown in FIG. 10, the holding mechanism portion of the cassette 1 is mainly composed of left and right cassette guides 20a and 20b and a connecting plate 20c for connecting the both. 20a is arranged so as to be located on the extension of the left cassette guide 32, and 20b is arranged so as to be located on the extension of the right cassette guide 31.

Cassette separation slide plates 21 are attached to the left and right cassette guides 20a and 20b so as to be slidable up and down.

The slide plate 21 is attached to the tip of the plunger 23a of the third solenoid 23, and is configured to be in the high position when the solenoid 23 is in the OFF state and in the low position when the solenoid 23 is in the ON state.

The slide plate 21 has a protrusion 22 projecting in the 90 degree direction at the bottom, and the front end surface of the ink sheet take-up portion 1b is a connecting plate 20c.
The slide plate 21 is in contact with the third solenoid 23.
When in the high position in the OFF state, the protrusion 22 abuts against the cassette coupling lever 17b and pushes it up to release the locked state.

When the slide plate 21 is in the low position with the third solenoid 23 turned on, the protrusion 22 does not contact the cassette coupling lever 17b. Then, the lever 17b is pushed back downward by the urging force of the lever return spring 17c and fitted into the pin 18, so that the ink sheet take-up portion 1b is locked.

The protrusion 22 needs to be in the low position only when the ink sheet take-up unit 1b enters and leaves the holding mechanism unit 19, so the time in the low position is shorter in terms of time. Therefore, here, it is preferable to use a solenoid with a return spring as the third solenoid 23. In this case, the energization time to the solenoid 23 can be shortened and the power consumption of the printer can be reduced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the position of the protrusion 22 is provided closer to the lever shaft 17a with respect to the position of the notch of the cassette coupling lever 17b. The reason is that when the cassette 1 is to be separated, This is because it is desired to push up the cassette coupling lever 17b at a position as close to the lever shaft 17a as possible, thereby making it possible to lengthen the movement distance of the coupling portion of the cassette coupling lever 17b as compared with the movement distance of the slide plate 21 in the high position and low position. .

9. Ink sheet winding mechanism section As shown in FIG. 10, a third motor 111 for winding an ink sheet is mounted above the right side cassette guide 20b, and is composed of a spring 114 and the like from its output shaft. The power is transmitted to the gear 113 via the friction clutch. That is, only the torque smaller than the predetermined friction torque is
When the gear 113 is overloaded, the shaft 112 idles and the gear 113 does not rotate.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the gear 113 is a gear fixed to the ink sheet take-up roller 14 when the ink sheet take-up section 1b is in the holding mechanism section 19.
14a is in a position where it meshes with, and the rotational force of the third motor 111 is
The ink sheet take-up roller 14 is rotated by being transmitted as shaft 112 → gear 113 → gear 14a.

10. Receiving paper feeding mechanism that feeds the receiving paper 2 to the platen mechanism ** 10.1 Rotating mechanism of the receiving paper feeding roller 70 As shown in FIG. 11, a gear 71 is attached to the output shaft of the second motor 29. . On the other hand, the gear 72 is fixed in the middle of the rotary shaft 73 and meshes with the gear 71. The left end of the shaft 73 is fitted and fixed to the input shaft of the clutch 74, and the gear 75 is attached to the output shaft of the clutch 74.

The gear 75 meshes with the entire circumference gear 51a, and this gear 51a
Is integrally connected to the intermittent gear 51b.

As shown in FIG. 15, the gears 51a and 51b integrally connected to each other are provided.
Rotates integrally around the shaft 55 in a form of being sandwiched between the "limit switch detecting cam 52, the roller up / down cam 54 of the image receiving paper feeding roller" and the "limit switch detecting cam 53".

As shown in FIG. 15, the intermittent gear 51b meshes with the gear 60, and the gear 60 meshes with the gear 61.

As shown in FIGS. 15, 16 and 17, the gear 60 is a bearing.
It is mounted on the outer periphery of 57 so that it can rotate freely.
It is fixed to the left side surface of a roller holding lever 56 having a shape of "" when viewed from above. On the other hand, a shaft 66 penetrates the inside of the bearing 57, and the bearing 57 and the shaft 66 are freely rotatable with respect to each other. The right end of the shaft 66 is fixed to the substrate 63a. The substrate 63a is fixed to the left cassette guide 32.

On the other hand, similarly to the left side, a bearing 65 corresponding to the bearing 57 is fixed to the right side surface of the lever 56, and a shaft 67 corresponding to the shaft 66 rotatably penetrates the inside thereof, and the left end of the shaft 67 is It is fixed to the substrate 63b via a spacer. The substrate 63b is fixed to the right cassette guide 31.

Therefore, the lever 56 can rotate about the shafts 66 and 67, and the gear 60 can also rotate about the shaft 66.

As shown in FIG. 17, on the left and right side surfaces of the roller holding lever 56 having the shape of “”, bearings 58,
64 is fixed, and the roller shaft 62 penetrates between the bearings, and the roller shaft 62 is rotatable with respect to the bearing. The left end of the roller shaft 62 penetrates the inside of the bearing 58 to the outside, and the gear 61 is fixed thereto. Roller shaft 62
A roller 70 is fixed near the center of the.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the rotational force of the second motor 29 is output shaft → gear 71 → gear 72 → rotary shaft 73 → clutch 74 →
Gear 75 → Gear 51a → Gear 51b → Gear 60 → Gear 61 → Roller shaft
62 → The image receiving paper is transmitted to the image receiving paper sending roller 70, and the roller 70 rotates to send out the image receiving paper.

** 10.2 Vertical mechanism of image receiving paper sending roller 70 In order to rotate the roller 70 and send the image receiving paper out of the cassette 1, it is necessary to lower the roller 70 until it abuts on the surface of the image receiving paper. It is necessary to raise the roller 70 because it interferes with the conveyance of the No. 1 roller.
Therefore, a vertical mechanism is required.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, the roller 70 is
It is attached to a roller holding lever 56 having the shape of, and as described above, the lever 56 is rotatable about the shaft 66, so that the lever 56 is rotated clockwise in FIG. It goes up when turned, and goes down when turned counterclockwise. As a result, the image receiving paper feeding roller 70 also moves up and down.

As described above, the gears 51a and 51b include the limit switch detection cam 52 and the roller up / down cam 54 of the image receiving paper feeding roller.
And limit switch detection cam 53 and shaft 55
Rotate around.

As shown in FIG. 16, the limit switch detection cam 53
Has a notch for switching ON / OFF of the eighth limit switch LSW8, and detects that the gears 51a, 51b rotate once.

Limit switch detection cam 52 and 9th limit switch
The LSw9 detects a predetermined angular position during one rotation of the gears 51a and 51b.

Since the force for rotating the lever 56 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 16 and in the clockwise direction in FIG. 19 is exerted by the biasing force of the tension spring 69, the cam surface of the roller up / down cam 54 and the shaft 59 in FIG. It is always in contact with the cam follower 68 put on.

As a result, in response to the cam surface, the roller holding lever 56 moves the shaft 66
Rotate counterclockwise in Fig. 16 around the
Rubber image receiving paper feed roller 70 attached to 62
Goes down from the upper position and enters the image receiving paper feed-out roller hole 9a of the main body 1a to contact the image receiving paper 2, and the roller 70 presses the image receiving paper 2 by the urging force of the spring 69. When the roller 70 rotates in this state, the image receiving paper 2 is ejected.

On the contrary, when the roller holding lever 56 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 16 around the shaft 66 in response to the cam surface, the roller 70 rises and separates from the image receiving paper 2 and the cassette 1 can be moved further. Ascend to high position.

FIG. 16A is a view conceptually showing a state in which the protrusion of the cam 54 is in contact with the cam follower 68, the lever 56 is fully rotated clockwise, and the roller 70 is at the highest position. FIG. The relationship between 70 and the image receiving paper 2 is shown. The two are separated here. On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows the intermittent gear 51b in that state.
In the figure showing the relationship between the gear 60 and the gear 60, they are not in mesh with each other.
Since the gear 61 meshing with 0 does not rotate, the roller 70 connected to the gear 61 does not rotate.

FIG. 16B shows that the rotation of the cam 54 has slightly advanced from the state of FIG. 16A and the cam follower 68 has just passed the protrusion, and the lever 56
Is a diagram conceptually showing a state in which the roller 70 is fully rotated counterclockwise and the roller 70 is at the lowest position. FIG. 1A shows the relationship between the roller 70 and the image receiving paper 2. Both are in contact here. Rather, the roller 70 is pressed against the image receiving paper 2 by the urging force of the spring 69. On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the intermittent gear 51b and the gear 60 in that state.
1b is where the gear portion starts to mesh with the gear 60. Therefore, the rotation of the gear 51b is transmitted to the gear 60, the gear 61 meshing with the gear 60 rotates, the roller 70 connected to the gear 61 rotates, and the image receiving paper 2 starts to be discharged.

FIG. 16C is a view conceptually showing a state in which the rotation of the cam 54 progresses from the state of FIG. 16B and the protrusion of the cam 54 approaches the cam follower 68. FIG. 1A shows the roller 70 and the image receiving paper 2. Shows the relationship. The two are still in contact here. However, FIG. (2) is a diagram showing the relationship between the intermittent gear 51b and the gear 60 in that state, and the intermittent gear 51b has just started its contact with the gear 60 at the intermittent portion. Therefore, the rotation of the gear 51b is not transmitted to the gear 60, the gear 61 meshing with the gear 60 stops rotating, the roller 70 connected to the gear 61 also stops rotating, and the discharge of the image receiving paper 2 stops.

11. Platen mechanism ** 11.1 Platen As shown in Fig. 9, the platen 76 is the thermal head 36
As shown in FIG. 20, it is basically composed of a metal cylindrical portion 76a, metal side surface portions 76b corresponding to the left and right side surfaces thereof, and a rubber portion 76c coated on the outside of the cylindrical portion 76a. . First
As shown in FIG. 20, the side surface portion 76b has a shaft portion 76d protruding at the center thereof, and the platen 76 is pivotally supported by the shaft portion 76d.

As shown in FIG. 20, a gear 77 is attached to the right end of the shaft portion 76d, and this gear 77 is a gear box 78a attached to the first stepping motor 78 as shown in FIG.
It meshes with a gear 79 attached to the tip of the output shaft of the platen, and the rotation of the motor 78 causes the platen 76 to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 20, the cam shaft 80 penetrates through the central portion of the shaft portion 76d, and both can freely rotate. However, as shown in FIG. 21, the camshaft 80 has a one position clutch C at the left end.
4) It has 81, and this clutch 81 is turned on and off by an electric signal.
You can FF. When this clutch 81 is turned on, the cam shaft 80 and the shaft portion 76d (that is, the platen 76) rotate together, and when this clutch 81 is turned off, the cam shaft 80 moves the shaft portion 76d (that is, the platen 76).
It is fixed in place regardless of the rotation of 76) and stops rotating.

As shown in FIG. 20, six cams 82 are mounted around the shaft 80 inside the cylindrical portion 76a, while the shaft 83 is provided near the cylindrical portion 76a between the left and right side surface portions 76b. A total of six image-receiving paper / chucking claws 84 are mounted on the shaft 83 at positions corresponding to the cam 81. The claw 84 is rotatable about a shaft 83 as a rotation shaft, and as shown in FIG. 23, is constantly biased in the arrow direction by a torsion spring 85 attached to the shaft 83.

As shown in FIG. 23, when viewed from the side, the claw 84 has a substantially "M" shape, and the left arm 84a that functions to hold down the image receiving paper 2 and the printing is completed and the sheet is discharged from the platen 76. It sometimes has a right arm 84b that works to flip up the image receiving paper from the platen 76, and a cam follower portion 84c that projects downward from the lower end of the right arm 84b.

In this way, the claw 84 has a substantially "M" shape,
With one member, the tip of the image receiving paper 2 can be pressed (chucked) by being rotated (closed) in the clockwise direction in FIG. By rotating (opening) 84 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 25 against the spring 85, the tip of the image receiving paper 2 can be flipped up from the platen 76, which is extremely useful.

To bring the cam 82 into contact with the cam follower portion 84c of the pawl 84 to open the pawl 84, the fourth clutch 81 is turned off to disengage the cam shaft 80 from the platen 76 and to move the cam shaft 80 at a predetermined angle. Fix, then rotate platen 76. Then, as shown in FIG. 22, the cam follower portion of the claw 84 will eventually be released.
84c abuts on the projection of the cam 82 and rotates the pawl 84 counterclockwise to open it. This position is the platen origin position as shown in FIG. 22, and when the platen 76 rotates to this position,
The platen origin position detection cam 76e (see Fig. 26) attached to the left end of the shaft 76d turns on the fourth limit switch LSW4 (see Fig. 26) for origin position detection, and stepping is performed based on this ON signal. The power supply to the motor 78 is stopped and the platen 76 is stopped.

To close the pawl 84, turn off the clutch 81 and turn the camshaft 8
The 0 and the platen 76 are disengaged and the cam shaft 80 is fixed at a predetermined angle, and then the platen 76 is rotated in the arrow direction in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 24, the cam follower portion 84c of the claw 84 eventually comes off the projection of the cam 82 and becomes free, and as a result, the urging force of the spring 85 acts to cause the claw 84 to move.
84 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 24 to be closed, and the image receiving paper 2
The tip of is chucked with the cylindrical portion 76a. FIG. 24 shows this state.

** 11.2 Rotating Mechanism of Platen 76 On the other hand, the rotating mechanism of the platen 76 is
As shown in the figure, the gear 79 attached to the output shaft of the gear box 78a of the first stepping motor 78 meshes with the gear 77, and the gear 77 is fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 76d. Further, as shown in FIG. 20, the rotary shaft 76d pivotally supports the platen 76. Therefore, the rotational force of the motor 78 is transmitted in the order of gear 79 → gear 77 → rotary shaft 76d → platen 76 to rotate the platen 76.

12. Elevating Mechanism Section of Thermal Head 36 FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the elevating mechanism section of the thermal head 36, and FIG. 28 is an exploded perspective view seen from the rear side.

The thermal head 36 is fixed to a mounting base 37, and the mounting base 37 can rotate about a shaft 38. The shaft 38 is attached to a carriage 39, and the carriage 39 is fixed to a frame 40. Further, the left and right frames 40 are attached to the frame base 41, respectively. The spring 42 is located between the frame base 41 and the mounting base 37, and always pushes the mounting base 37 upward to generate a contact pressure between the thermal head 36 and the platen (not shown).

The stopper 43 is provided on the side surface of the mounting base 37 to prevent the mounting base 37 from being raised unnecessarily when the thermal head 36 is not in pressure contact with the platen, and contacts the bottom surface of the frame 40. , The mount 37 cannot be raised any further.

The end portions of the ink sheet guide rollers 44a, 44b, and 44c are
It is pivotally supported by the left and right frames 40. In general,
The ink sheet guide roller is usually attached to the platen side, but here it is attached to the frame 40. The reason for this is that in order to prevent wrinkles from occurring when the ink sheet is moved, the contact line between the thermal head 36 and the platen is exactly parallel to the axes of the ink sheet guide rollers 44a to 44c ^*.
However, since the contact line changes depending on how the thermal head 36 contacts the platen, the carriage 39 that supports the shaft 38 of the mount 37 on which the thermal head 36 is mounted is fixed. This is because, by similarly supporting the ink sheet guide rollers 44a to 44c with respect to the frame 40, the parallel ^* can be made higher.

Guide rollers 39b and 39c are attached to the carriage 39, and the carriage 39 can move up and down along the guide plate 45. Explaining the means for moving the carriage 39 up and down, the cam 46 is in contact with the cam follower 39a attached to the carriage 39, and when the cam 46 rotates, the cam follower 39a moves up and down, resulting in the carriage 3
9 goes up and down.

FIG. 27A is a view conceptually showing the relationship between the cam 46, the cam follower 39a, and the thermal head 36. In FIG. 1A, the large diameter portion of the cam is in contact with the cam follower 39a and the thermal head 36 is High position. At this time, printing is performed.

In FIG. 2B, the middle diameter portion of the cam is in contact with the cam follower 39a, and the thermal head 36 is in the middle position. At this time, the preparation for printing is completed.

In FIG. 3C, the small diameter portion of the cam is in contact with the cam follower 39a, and the thermal head 36 is in the low position. At this time, the cassette 1 is conveyed.

As shown in FIG. 27, the cam 46 and the gear 48 are rotatably mounted on the same shaft 49d, and both rotate integrally. Then, as shown in FIG. 27, the gear 48 and the gear 47 mesh with each other. As shown in FIG. 11, the gear 47 is attached to the left end of the rotary shaft 47a, and the gear 47b is attached to the right end thereof. The gear 47b meshes with the gear 51, and this gear 51 is attached to the output shaft of the electromagnetic clutch 50. On the other hand, a gear 50a is attached to the tip of the input shaft, and this gear 50a meshes with the gear 71. The gear 71 is attached to the output shaft of the second motor 29 as described above.

Therefore, referring to FIG. 11, the transmission path of the rotational force of the second motor 29 will be described. The gear 71 mounted on the output shaft of the motor 29 → gear 50a → second clutch 50 → gear 5
1 → Gear 47b → Rotary shaft 47a → Gear 47 → Gear 48 → Cam 46 is transmitted to rotate cam 46.

As shown in FIG. 27, the fifth, sixth and seventh limit switches LSw5, LS
The cams 49a, 49b, 49c that turn on and off w6, LSw7 are also coaxially and integrally connected to the cam 46 with the gear 48 in between, and limit switches LSW5, LSw6 when the cam 46 reaches a predetermined rotation angle. ,
LSw7 is also turned on and off. Limit switch
LSw5, LSw6, LSw7 has three thermal heads
This is because the high position, the middle position, and the low position are detected in the order of 36.

13. Guide Mechanism of Image Receiving Paper 2 to Platen 76 and Ejection Mechanism FIG. 26 is an upper part of a printer having a mechanism for guiding the image receiving paper 2 to the platen 76 and an ejecting mechanism for ejecting the image-receiving paper 2 that has been thermally transferred and recorded, that is, prints. FIG. 29 is an explanatory view conceptually showing the right side surface thereof.

As shown in FIG. 29, in front of the platen 76 is a guide plate 92,
93 is provided, and the image receiving paper 2 discharged upward from the discharge port 9b of the cassette body 1a loaded in the lower portion of the printer by the image receiving paper feeding roller 70 is a roller as it is.
70 advances on the guide plate 92, and eventually contacts the guide plate 93 to change the course toward the lower side of the platen 76.

Around the platen 76, a pressure roller 94 is disposed on the side close to the thermal head and another pressure roller 97 is disposed above the platen 76 in order to press the wound image receiving paper 2 against the platen 76. .

The pressure roller 94 is attached to one end of a lever 95 having a substantially V shape, and the other end of the lever 95 is urged clockwise by a tension spring 96 in FIG. This bias is the lever
When 95 rotates about the rotating shaft 95a at the bending point, it is transmitted to the pressure contact roller 94, and the roller 94 is moved to the platen.
Press against 76.

Another pressure roller 97 is above the platen 76, which is fixed.

On the other hand, a pair of substantially parallel guide plates 98 and 99 are provided in order to eject the printed image receiving paper. One end of each of the guide plates 98 and 99 is opened above the platen 76,
The image receiving paper 2 advances between them. The other ends of the guide plates 98, 99 are
It is connected to the discharge port 25 (see FIG. 8) of the image receiving paper. However, the image receiving paper 2 will discharge the space between the guide plates 98 and 99 by itself.
You can't go up to 25, so as shown in Figure 29,
A pair of paper discharge rollers 100 (for driving) and 101 (for pressure contact) in the middle
Is provided.

As shown in FIG. 26, a pulley 104 is attached to the left end of a rotary shaft 106 that pivotally supports the discharge roller 100, while a platen 76 is pivotally supported as shown in FIGS. 21 and 26. At the left end of the shaft 76d, a pulley 103 is attached to the outside of the platen origin position detection cam 76e.
A belt 105 is hung between 104 and.

The diameter ratio between the pulleys 103 and 104 is set to about 6: 1, and the diameter ratio between the platen 76 and the paper discharge roller 100 is set to about 4: 1. Therefore, the peripheral speed ratio between the platen 76 and the discharge roller 100 is about 1: 1.5. This is to prevent the image receiving paper 2 from having slack or wrinkles when the front end of the image receiving paper 2 reaches the paper ejection roller 100 after printing and the paper ejection operation is performed. This is to shorten the time until the end of the paper discharge after the rear end of the image receiving paper 2 has passed the pressure contact roller 97.

In addition, while the front end of the image receiving paper 2 is sandwiched between the paper discharge rollers 100 and 101, but the rear end is still sandwiched between the pressure contact roller 97 and the platen 76, the pressure contact roller 97 and the platen 76 are separated. Since the holding force of the paper is strong, the paper discharge roller 100 rotates while sliding a little.

As shown in FIG. 29, the distance L between the discharge port 25 and the discharge roller 100 is designed to be slightly shorter than the length of the image receiving paper 2. Therefore, when the rotation of the platen 76 is stopped at the origin position and the discharge roller 100 is also stopped, the image receiving paper 2 is also stopped by this, but the image receiving paper 2 is at a position where the leading edge of the image receiving paper 2 is slightly out of the discharge port 25. Stop. Therefore, the image receiving paper 2 does not drop from the printer, and the operator can easily take out the image receiving paper 2 by hand, which is convenient.

On the other hand, the paper discharge roller 101, which is paired with the paper discharge roller 100, is a pressure contact roller that simply press-contacts the paper discharge roller 100, and is pivotally supported by the rotating shaft 107 as shown in FIG. Both ends of the rotating shaft 107 are provided with bearing holes 109, 11 provided in the frame plate 108 of the discharging mechanism section.
It is fitted to 0. These bearing holes 109 and 110 are long vertically,
Therefore, the discharge roller 101 can freely move up and down. However, the pressure contact springs 102 are provided on the left and right inside the frame plate 108, and the rotating shaft 107 is constantly pressed downward. Therefore, the discharge roller 101 is in pressure contact with the roller 100.

14. Limit switch group for cassette position detection As shown in FIG. 10, the left cassette guide 32 has a first limit switch LSw1 in the middle and a second limit switch in the back.
LSw2 is arranged, and further, a third limit switch LSw3 is arranged on the left side cassette guide 20a of the ink sheet winding section holding mechanism section 19.

These LSw1 to 3 are for detecting the position of the cassette 1, and the accurate position of the LSw1 from the cassette mounting port 24 is set to a position shorter than the entire length of the cassette 1. Therefore, when the cassette 1 is mounted, the tip of the cassette 1 operates the first limit switch LSw1 to turn this switch ON. This ON signal causes the second motor 29 to start rotation, and this rotation passes through the drive system and the cassette carrying rubber roller.
It is transmitted to 30, and the roller 30 rotates to carry the cassette into the back of the printer.

The leading end of the cassette 1 then actuates the second limit switch LSW2 to turn it ON, and when it further reaches the holding mechanism 19, the third limit switch LSW3 is actuated to turn it ON.
At this time, the first limit switch LSw1 comes off from the cassette 1 and is turned off.

Length of cassette 1 and limit switches LSw1, LSw2, LSw3
The positional relationship with and is set in this way. for that reason,
The following is detected by the signals of LSw1 to 3.

31 to 49 are for explaining the sequence of the printer operation, and are all conceptual diagrams showing the positional relationship of the main parts from the right side inside the printer. FIG. 30 shows the limit switch LSW group, the thermal head 36, and the platen 7 when the inside of the printer is viewed from the right side.
6, the first solenoid 33, the third solenoid 23, the platen origin position detection cam 76e, the image receiving paper feed roller 7
It is a conceptual diagram which shows the positional relationship with 0.

15. Automatic loading operation of cassette 1 (see FIGS. 31 to 32) When the power switch 115 shown in FIG. 8 is turned on, the first solenoid 33 for locking the cassette / body 1a shown in FIG.
And the third solenoid 23 for separating the cassette is energized,
Each of the plungers is retracted into the solenoid so that the cassette 1 can be carried in as shown in FIG.

When the cassette 1 is attached to the cassette insertion slot 24, the tip of the cassette activates the first limit switch LSw1 shown in FIG. 10 to turn it on. This ON signal starts energization of the second motor 29 and the electromagnetic clutch 35, and the second motor 29
As shown in Fig. 11, the rotational force of 29 is gear 71 → gear 72 →
It is transmitted to the cassette carrying rubber roller 30 via the drive system of the shaft 73, the electromagnetic clutch 35, the carrier 26, the gear 27, and the carrier 28, and the cassette 1 is carried into the back of the printer.

As for the cassette 1 which has gone to the back, the tip end turns on the second limit switch LSw2 shown in FIG. By this ON signal, power supply to the third motor 111 is started, and the gear 113 rotates. The rotation of the gear 113 makes the mesh between the ink sheet take-up roller gear 14a of the ink sheet take-up portion 1b of the cassette and the gear 113 smooth.

When the cassette 1 further advances and reaches the ink sheet take-up portion holding mechanism portion 19, the leading end portion thereof activates the third limit switch LSW3 shown in FIG. 10 to turn it on.
At this time, the first limit switch LSw1 comes off from the cassette 1 and is turned off. This is the state shown in FIG.

The relationship between the total length of the cassette 1 and the limit switches LSw1,2,3 is set as shown in Fig. 32, and the cassette 1 is at the deepest position by the signal LSw1: OFF LSw2: ON LSw3: ON. It is detected that the second motor 29 and the third motor 111 are energized based on the detection signal, and as a result, the cassette 1 stops at the first predetermined position and the gear 113 also rotates. To stop.

16. Separation operation of cassette 1 (see FIG. 32) When it is detected that the cassette 1 reaches the first predetermined position, the energization of the third solenoid 23 shown in FIG. 10 is stopped and the plunger 23a is The slide plate 21 attached to the plunger 23a jumps up by the urging force of the return spring 23b.
The projection 22 comes into contact with the cassette coupling lever 17b (see FIG. 6) through the cassette separating notch hole 11c (see FIG. 2), and further pushes up the lever 17b to release the lock. The protrusion 21b, which is thus in the high position, maintains the state until the power is supplied again, and prevents the separated ink sheet take-up portion 1b from retracting from the holding unit 19 and fixes it in that position.

After a while, a reverse rotation signal is sent to the second motor 29,
The cassette carrying rubber roller 30 rotates in the reverse direction, and only the main body 1a starts to retreat.

Then, the main body 1a actuates the first limit switch LSw1 again to turn it on, and when the main body 1a retreats further,
As shown in Fig. 33, the second limit switch LSW2 eventually
It comes off from the main body 1a and turns off.

As a result, LSw1: ON LSw2: OFF LSw3: ON, and based on this signal, the second motor 29 and the electromagnetic clutch 35 are de-energized, the retraction of the main body 1a is stopped, and the main body 1a is stopped at the second predetermined position.

However, it is difficult to stop the main body 1a instantaneously due to the rotation torque of the motor and other reasons.
Actually, here, when it is detected that the cassette 1 has reached the deepest first predetermined position and the energization of the third solenoid 23 is stopped, the first solenoid 33 with a return spring is simultaneously released.
Power supply to (see Fig. 10) is also stopped. The first solenoid 33 is for locking the main body portion 1a, and when the energization is stopped, the plunger 34 is a device for popping out of the solenoid by the urging force of the return spring. However, when the cassette 1 is in the first predetermined position, the plunger 34
The head of is in contact with the bottom of the main body 1a. Plunger 34
Since the head of the device has a hemispherical shape, when the body part 1a retracts, the head may contact the bottom part of the body part 1a without causing any retreat. When the position of the locking hole 11a provided at the bottom of the main body 1a matches the position of the head of the plunger 34, the head protrudes by the biasing force of the return spring and fits into the hole 11a. , The main body 1a is stopped instantaneously and locked at the same time.

This state is shown in FIGS. 33 and 13.

Further, by stopping the energization of the first clutch 35, the power transmission between the second motor 29 and the cassette carrying rubber roller 30 is separated.

With this, the ink sheet 4 becomes a bridging state between the main body portion 1a and the ink sheet winding portion 1b in the second state, and the setting of the cassette 1 is completed.

Further, the position of the main body 1a in this state is referred to as a second predetermined position.

17. Movement operation of the thermal head 36 from the low position to the middle position (see Fig. 34) The thermal head 36 takes three positions of high, middle and low.
When the cassette 1 enters the first predetermined position (Figs. 31 to 33)
The thermal head 36 is in the low position.

As described in the previous 16th section, when the setting of the cassette is completed, the second clutch 50 is turned on and the energization of the second motor 29 is started, and the rotational force of the motor 29 is as shown in FIG. Gear 71 → gear 50a → clutch 50 → gear 51 → gear 4
It is transmitted to the cam 46 via 7b → rotating shaft 47a → key 47 → 48,
This raises the thermal head 36.

When the cam 46 shown in FIG. 27 rotates, the cams 49a, 49b, 49c that were rotating together are moved to the limit switches LSw5, LSw6, LSw.
7 is turned OFF, ON, and OFF, respectively. Based on this signal, the second clutch 50 is turned OFF, the second motor 29 is turned OFF, and the thermal head 36 stops at the middle position.

This state is shown in FIG. 34, and the print preparation is completed.

18. Sending out the image receiving paper 2 (see Fig. 35) When the print preparation is completed, press the print switch 116
Then, the second motor 29 starts to be energized and rotates, and
As shown in FIG. 1, the gear 71 directly connected to the motor 29 rotates. This rotation is transmitted from the gear 71 to the gear 72, and the input shaft 73 to the clutch rotates. This rotation is transmitted to the gear 75 connected to the output shaft when the third clutch 74 is ON,
The gear 75 rotates.

When the gear 75 rotates, the full-circle gear 51 meshing with it
a rotates, and the intermittent gear 51b integrated with it also rotates.

As shown in FIG. 16, with the rotation of the gears 51a and 51b, the roller up / down cam 54 integrally combined with these gears rotates, and the cam followers 68 that are in contact therewith come down. As a result, the roller holding lever 56 rotates counterclockwise about the shafts 66 and 67 in FIG. 16, and the image receiving paper feeding roller 70 contacts the image receiving paper 2 through the opening 9a of the cassette body 1a. They come into contact with each other and press the image receiving paper 2. This state is shown in FIG. 16B (1).

During this series of operations, as shown in FIG. 16A (2), since it corresponds to the intermittent portion of the intermittent gear 51b, the rotation is not transmitted to the gear 60 despite the rotation of the gear 51b, Therefore, since the gear 61 does not rotate, the roller shaft 62 and the image receiving paper feeding roller 70 do not rotate.

After that, as shown in FIG. 16B (2), when the intermittent gear 51b rotates and meshes with the gear 60, the rotation of the gear 51b is transmitted to the gear 61 via the gear 60, and the roller shaft 62 and the image receiving paper delivery. The roller 70 rotates. Then, the image receiving paper 2 is discharged from the image receiving paper discharge port 9a and advances obliquely upward along the guide plate 92, then advances obliquely downward along the guide plate 93, and finally the 35th.
It abuts the platen 76 as shown.

When the image receiving paper 2 has been discharged to the specified length,
The limit switch detection cam 52 shown in FIG. 18 turns on the ninth limit switch LSW9, and based on this ON signal, the power supply to the second motor 29 is stopped and the rotation of the gear 51 is also stopped.
This state is shown in FIG. 16C.

After that, when the chunking of the image receiving paper 2 to the platen 76, which will be described in detail in the next paragraph 19, is completed, the second motor 29 is again energized, and the gears 51a and 51b and the cam 54 rotate. Eventually, the cam follower 68 rides on the protruding portion of the roller up / down cam 54, and as a result, the image receiving paper feeding roller 70
Rises and separates from the image receiving paper 2.

At the same time, the limit switch detection cam 53 turns on the eighth limit switch LSw8 (state of FIG. 16), the power supply to the second motor 29 is stopped based on this ON signal, and the gears 51a, 51a
b, Stop when the other turns exactly once. This state is shown in FIG. 16A.

19. Chucking the image receiving paper 2 to the platen 76 (see FIG. 22 and FIG. 35) The passive paper 2 is discharged from the cassette 1 by the passive paper feeding roller 70 and comes into contact with the platen 76 and stops.
This is the state shown in the figure. The platen 76 is at the origin position.

As explained in item 18, the limit switch detection cam 52 shown in FIGS. 16 and 18 turns on the ninth limit switch LSW9.
When the power supply to the second motor 29 is stopped based on this ON signal, the stepping motor is driven based on the same ON signal.
The energization of 78 is started, and the platen 76 starts rotating in the arrow direction from the origin position in FIG.

When the platen 76 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the fourth clutch 81 connecting the platen 76 and the cam shaft 80 is in the OFF state, and the cam shaft 80 is driven by the brake mechanism (not shown) attached to the fourth clutch 81. It is fixed at the origin position.

Nevertheless, since Platen 76 continues to rotate,
The cam follower portion 84c that was in contact with the protruding portion of the cam 82,
When it comes off from the cam 82 and becomes free, the pawl 84 is rotated clockwise by the urging force of the spring 85, and as a result, the front end of the image receiving paper 2 is sandwiched between the left arm 84a and the platen cylindrical portion 76a, The front end of the image receiving paper 2 is chucked by the platen 76. FIG. 24 shows this state.

When the platen 76 further rotates after the chucking ends, the energization of the motor 78 is stopped at a predetermined rotation angle position, and the platen 76 stops. Simultaneously with the stop, energization of the fourth clutch 81 is started, and the clutch is turned on (connected).

When the clutch 81 is turned on, the cam shaft 80 (that is, the cam 82) rotates in synchronization with the platen 76. Therefore, even if the platen 76 subsequently rotates, the state of FIG. 2 is chucked by platen 76.

20. Winding and stopping operation of the ink sheet 4 (see FIG. 36) As described in the previous section 19, when the platen 76 stops at a predetermined rotation angle position, the third motor 111 shown in FIG. The energization is started and the gear 113 starts to rotate, whereby the ink sheet 4 is taken up by the take-up roller 14. When the first photodetector (OP-1) shown in FIG. 27, which has been monitoring the movement (winding) of the ink sheet 4, detects the beginning of the Y-color ink layer region, the third motor 111 is energized. Is stopped and the winding is stopped, and at the same time, as shown in FIG.
The solenoid 86 is turned on, the plunger 87 presses the rubber ring 13a shown in FIG. 5 through the hole 11b of the cassette body 1a, and the ink sheet supply roller 13 is locked. This state is shown in FIG.

21. Movement operation from the middle position to the high position of the thermal head 36 (see Fig. 37) The first photodetector (OP-1) shown in Fig. 27 detects the beginning ^* of the Y color ink layer area. The sending of the ink sheet 4 until the leading edge ^* is detected is referred to as Y-color “cueing” here—the ink sheet supply roller 13 is locked based on this detection signal, and the second clutch 50 is activated. ON
The second motor 29 is energized and the motor rotates. This rotational force is transmitted to the gear 48 via the second clutch 50 as described in the section 12, the rotational force of the gear 48 is transmitted to the cam 46 integrally connected, and the thermal head 36 rises.

When the rotation position of the cam 46 shown in FIG. 27 reaches a predetermined rotation angle position, the fifth limit switch LSw5 is turned on, the sixth limit switch LSw6 is turned off, and the seventh limit switch LSw7 is turned off. Based on the thermal head 36
It is determined that the position is the high position shown in FIG. 27A (1), and the power supply to the motor 29 is stopped. At this time, the image receiving paper 2 and the ink sheet 4 are pressed between the platen 76 and the thermal head 36 by the force of the spring 42 shown in FIG.

This completes the print preparation. After this, if there is no particular trouble, the process automatically proceeds to the next step.

22. Y-color printing operation (see Fig. 37) As explained in item 21, the energization of the second solenoid 86 is stopped based on the SLw5: ON LSw6: OFF LSw7: OFF signal, and the ink sheet supply roller 13 On the other hand, the third motor 111 and the stepping motor 78 are energized.

The energization of the stepping motor 78 is a pulse (intermittent), so that the image receiving paper 2 advances intermittently by one line. In this case, the ink sheet 4 is superposed on the image receiving paper 2, and since both are in a state of being pressure-bonded between the platen 76 and the thermal head 36, they are integrated due to mutual friction.

On the other hand, the third motor 111 is a DC motor that continuously rotates, but as described in Section 9 (see FIG. 14), the gear 113
When a load larger than a predetermined value is applied to the motor, the motor idles and the ink sheet 4 does not advance.

That is, the progress of the image receiving paper 2 and the ink sheet 4 is
Controlled or driven by 76, the rotation of the third motor 111 merely winds up the ink sheet 4.

In the present state, the thermal head 36 is at a high position, the image receiving paper 2 and the ink sheet 4 are pressed against each other between the platen 76 and the thermal head 36, and the platen 76 is stopped. At the start of printing, the thermal head 36 is not energized simultaneously with the rotation of the platen 76. If performed at the same time, the print position may be shifted over several lines from the start of printing due to the backlash of the drive system gear, and the printing may be started before the stable cycle of the stepping motor 78 is reached. Print position shift occurs between lines.

In order to avoid these inconveniences, for example, during 10 lines, the platen 76 is rotated in the pressure contact state in the same cycle as during printing to perform idle feeding. After that, the thermal head 36 is energized to print the first line.

Then, the ink sheet 4 and the image receiving paper 2 are advanced by one line and stopped, and the second line is printed.

After that, if you print in the same way up to the last line, the image receiving paper 2
A Y-color two-dimensional image is reproduced on the top.

When the Y-color printing is completed, the thermal head 36 is de-energized, the image receiving paper 2 and the ink sheet 4 are fed by a predetermined amount in a pressed state, and then the energization of the stepping motor 78 is stopped. Stop platen 76.

The reason for performing the idle feed in the pressure contact state will be described below.
As a method of cueing after M colors (including M colors),
Each color (Y, M, C) is detected by the sensor and the ink sheet 4 is wound up and controlled, or a mark is provided at the position corresponding to Y, M, C by using a margin or the like. There is a method of detecting and winding up the ink sheet 4 and controlling it. However, the former requires more sensors because it is necessary to identify each color (Y, M, C), and the latter is also expensive. There are drawbacks such as high cost due to marking in the margin.

In the present embodiment, only the Y color is detected by one set of sensors (light emitting section and light receiving section), the ink sheet 4 is wound up and controlled, and then the M and subsequent colors are cued from the image receiving paper 2 and the ink sheet. Four
Is fed by a predetermined amount in the pressed state, and the leading position of the M color and C color ink layer regions of the ink sheet is brought to the print position (the position of the heat generating portion) of the thermal head 36.

23. Preparation for M-color printing (see Fig. 38) As explained in the previous section 22, if the specified amount of blank feed is completed in the pressure contact state, that is, if the M-color cueing is completed, this In the signal, 1. The power supply to the stepping motor 78 is stopped, the rotation of the platen 76 is stopped, 2. The second solenoid 86 is turned on, and the ink sheet supply roller is turned on.
13 is locked again, 3. Reverse current is applied to the second motor 29 and reverse rotation (first
27A (1) (arrow direction) starts, and the thermal head 36 starts to descend.

When the thermal head 36 descends to the middle position, it becomes LSw5: OFF LSw6: ON LSw7: OFF, the middle position is detected by this, the power supply to the second motor 29 is stopped based on this detection signal, and the thermal head 36 Stops in the middle position.

However, since the power supply to the third motor 111 is not stopped, the ink sheet 4 is about to be wound up. By this operation, if the ink sheet 4
Even if wrinkles occur on the wrinkles, the wrinkles are extended. It is preferable to perform this wrinkle extension for each color in order to prevent accumulation.

Then, the second clutch 50 is turned on based on the detected position of the middle position, and the energization of the second motor 29 is started to rotate the motor. As a result, the thermal head 36 ascends, and when the high position is reached, the second The power supply to the motor 29 is stopped and the motor 29 is stopped. Then, energization to the stepping motor 78 is started, the platen 76 rotates, and the platen 76 rotates 10 lines before the start of M-color printing and stops.

This completes the M color print preparation, and after this, if there is no particular problem, the process automatically advances to the next step.

24. M-color print operation (see Fig. 39) After the previous step, the same operation as the Y-color print operation is performed.

25. Preparation for C-color print (see Fig. 40) After the previous step, the same operation as for M-color print preparation is performed.

26. C-color print operation (see FIG. 41) After the previous step, the same operation as the Y-color print operation is performed.

In this way, Y, M, and C color images are overlaid and printed on one image receiving paper 2 to reproduce a full-color image.

27. Discharging operation of the image receiving paper 2 that has been printed (see Fig. 42) When the C color printing is completed and all the printing is completed, the ink sheet 4 and the image receiving paper 2 are fed by a predetermined rotation angle while being in pressure contact with each other. After that, the power supply to the stepping motor 78 is stopped and the platen 76 is stopped.

Next, as shown in FIG. 42, the second solenoid 86 is turned on to lock the ink sheet supply roller 13, and at the same time, the reverse rotation of the second motor 29 is started and the thermal head 36 starts to descend. When LSw5 is OFF, LSw6 is ON, and LSw7 is OFF, the second motor 29 is stopped and the thermal head 36 is stopped at the middle position. Here, the energization of the second clutch 50 is stopped and the clutch is disengaged. After that, even if the second motor 29 rotates, the thermal head 36 does not move.

Based on the signal that the thermal head 36 has reached the middle position, energization of the stepping motor 78 is started and the platen 76 is rotated again. At the same time, the fourth clutch 81 shown in FIG.
When turned off, the connection between the platen 76 (more precisely, 76d shown in Fig. 20) and the cam shaft 80 is released, and the cam shaft 80 and the cam 82 are fixed at the origin angle position by the action of the brake mechanism (not shown). It

On the other hand, the platen 76 continues to rotate, and as shown in FIG. 25, when the position of the claw 84 in the platen 76 has passed the position of the pressure roller 97 which is right above again, the claw 84 rotated together with the platen 76. The cam follower part 84c of the claw 84 starts to contact the protruding part of the cam 82, and the claw 84 gradually rotates around the shaft 83 against the urging force of the torsion spring 85, and the left arm (clamp part) 84a of the claw 84a.
Is released from the metal cylindrical portion 76a of the platen and the chucking is released. Then, when further rotated, the tip of the right arm (projection) 84b projects from the surface of the rubber portion 76c of the platen, and the tip of the image receiving paper 2 is pushed out from the outer peripheral surface of the platen 76.

As a result, the leading edge of the image receiving paper 2 largely stands up from the outer peripheral surface of the platen 76, assisting its own impact resilience, and eventually rides on the lower guide plate 99 as shown in FIG. 43 as the platen rotates. After that, the image receiving paper 2 advances between the pair of guide plates 98 and 99 by the rotation of the platen, and the leading end of the image receiving paper 2 is caught between the paper discharge rollers 100 and 101 in due course.

After that, the image receiving paper 2 is further moved between the guide plates 98 and 99 by the rotation of the roller 100 which is rotationally driven from the platen 76 through the pulley 103 → the belt 105 → the pulley 104 as shown in FIG. When the leading edge of the image receiving sheet 2 slightly goes out of the discharge port 25, the trailing edge of the image receiving sheet 2 passes over the roller 100 and the image receiving sheet 2 stops. That is, the distance between the discharge port 25 and the discharge rollers 100 and 101 (L shown in FIG. 29) is designed to be slightly shorter than the entire length of the image receiving paper 2, and therefore the image receiving paper 2 on which printing has been completed is As shown in Fig. 44, the tip stops at a position slightly protruding from the printer, so there is no difficulty in dropping the image receiving paper 2 from the printer.
Can be easily taken out by hand.

On the other hand, with regard to the platen 76, after the chucking of the image receiving paper 2 is released, the platen 76 once passes the origin position by the time the discharge of the image receiving paper 2 is finished, and the original position is returned to the second position after rotating once more. When the 4 limit switch LSW4 is detected to be ON, the power supply to the stepping motor 78 is stopped, and the platen is stopped at the origin position. This means that the platen 76 has made 5 revolutions from the beginning.

In addition, based on the ON signal of LSw4 described above, the second solenoid 86
The energization of the third motor 111 is stopped, the lock of the ink sheet supply roller 13 is released, and the winding of the ink sheet 4 is stopped.

This completes all print operations.

28. How to end the printing operation when the last image receiving paper 2 in the cassette is printed When the last image receiving paper 2 to be printed is ejected from the cassette 1, the second photodetector shown in FIG. OP-2)
When it detects that there is no image receiving paper 2 through the window 10 of the cassette body 1a, the cassette 1 must be replaced. Therefore, the method of completing the print operation changes a little.

When the C-color printing is completed and all the printing is completed, the stepping motor 78 is stopped and the platen 76 is stopped after being fed by a predetermined rotation angle.

Next, as shown in FIG. 45, the second solenoid 86 is turned on to lock the ink sheet supply roller 13, and at the same time, the second motor 29 is started to rotate in the reverse direction and the thermal head 36 starts to descend. When LSw5 is OFF, LSw6 is OFF, and LSw7 is ON, the second motor 29 is stopped and the thermal head 36 is stopped at the low position. Here, the energization of the second clutch 50 is stopped and the clutch is disengaged, and thereafter, even if the motor 29 rotates, the thermal head 36 does not move.

Based on the signal that the thermal head 36 has come to the low position, energization to the stepping motor 78 is started, the platen 76 is rotated again, and at the same time, the fourth clutch 81 is turned off, and the cam shaft 80 and the cam 82 are set to the origin angle. Fixed in position.

Then, the platen 76 continues to rotate, and the chucking is released when the claw 84 has passed the position of the pressure contact roller 97 as described in Section 27, and as shown in FIG. 46, the guide plate 98,
It is ejected between 99 and.

When the platen 76 makes a total of 5 revolutions and reaches the home position as shown in Fig. 47, the home position is set to the 4th limit switch LS.
Detected by the ON ^* of w4, the power supply to the stepping motor 78 is stopped, and the platen stops at the home position.

29. Coupling operation of cassette 1 (see FIG. 48) Based on the ON ^* signal of LSw4 described above, 1. The energization of the second solenoid 86 is stopped, the ink sheet supply roller 13 is unlocked, and 2. Energization of the first solenoid 33 is started, the main body 1a of the cassette is unlocked, 3. The first clutch 35 is turned on, 4. The second motor 29 starts rotating, and the cassette shown in FIG. The conveying rubber roller 30 rotates in the forward direction to move the main body 1a toward the back. At this time, the third motor 111 is still rotating and the ink sheet 4 is taken up by the take-up roller 14.

When the main body 1a reaches the deepest first predetermined position, LSw1: OFF LSw2: ON LSw3: ON, and when this state is detected, the power supply to the second motor 29 is stopped and the main body 1a is stopped. Will stop. At the same time, the third
The solenoid 23 is energized and the cassette separating slide plate 21 descends, so that the cassette coupling lever 17b is rotated counterclockwise (in FIG. 6) by the urging force of the spring 17c, and the lever notch 17e becomes pin 18. Is engaged and locked.
As shown in FIG. 48, the uniting of the cassettes 1 is completed.

30. Description of cassette 1 ejecting operation When the cassette 1 has been assembled, a reverse current is applied to the second motor 29, and the main body 1a begins to retract.

When a signal of LSw1: ON LSw2: OFF LSw3: OFF is detected, the second motor 29 and the first clutch 35 are de-energized, the rotation of the motor is stopped and the clutch is turned off. Stop at the third predetermined position.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 49, the total length of the cassette 1 is
Since it is designed to be longer than the distance between the cassette loading slot 24 on the front of the printer and the LSw2, the loading slot 24 is in front of the cassette 1.
The cassette 1 projects further a little and stops, so that the cassette 1 does not drop from the printer, and the operator can easily take it out by hand.

This completes the ejection operation of the cassette 1.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the thermal transfer printer in which the replenishment management of the ink sheet is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top surface of the cassette 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom surface of the cassette 1. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the cassette 1 in the separated second state. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ink sheet 4. FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the cassette 1. FIG. 6 shows the cassette 1 at the X ₁ -X ₁ position shown in FIG.
FIG. Figure 7 is in the cassette 1 to the X ₂ -X ₂ position shown in Figure 5
FIG. FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of the thermal transfer printer. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the main internal parts of the thermal transfer printer. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of the cassette drive mechanism portion and the ink sheet take-up portion holding mechanism portion. FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing a power transmission mechanism of a mechanical portion of the entire printer. FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of the periphery of the cassette carrying rubber roller 30. FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of the cassette drive mechanism portion and the ink sheet take-up portion holding mechanism portion with the cassette 1 in the second state mounted. FIG. 14 is a plan view of the periphery of the third motor. FIG. 15 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the image receiving paper feeding mechanism section. FIG. 16 is a left side view of the image receiving paper feeding mechanism portion. 16A to 16C (1) is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship among the image receiving paper 2, the image receiving paper feeding roller 70, the roller holding lever 56 and the cam 54, and FIG. 16A to 16C (2) is 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a relationship between a gear 60 and an intermittent gear 51b. FIG. FIG. 17 is a plan view of the image receiving paper feeding mechanism section. FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the image receiving paper feeding mechanism portion. FIG. 19 is a right side view around the roller holding lever 56. FIG. 20 is a horizontal sectional view of the platen 76. FIG. 21 is a plan view around the platen 76. FIG. 22 shows the platen 76 in the X ₃ -X ₃ position shown in FIG.
FIG. FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the claw 84. FIG. 24 is a vertical sectional view of the platen 76 in a state where the rotation angle is different from that in FIG. FIG. 25 is a vertical sectional view of the platen 76 in a state in which the rotation angle is different from those in FIGS. 22 and 24. FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the guide and discharge mechanism portion of the image receiving paper 2. FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the lifting mechanism of the thermal head 36. FIG. 27A is a conceptual diagram showing a relationship between a cam follower 39a for raising and lowering the thermal head 36 and the cam 46. FIG. 28 is an exploded perspective view of the lifting mechanism of the thermal head 36 as viewed from the back side. FIG. 29 is a conceptual diagram of the guide and discharge mechanism of the image receiving paper 2 as viewed from the left side surface. FIG. 30 shows the limit switch LSw group, the thermal head 36, the platen 76, the first solenoid 33, the third solenoid 23, the platen origin position detecting cam 76e, and the image receiving when the printer is viewed from the right side. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a positional relationship with a paper delivery roller 70. FIG. 31 to 49 are conceptual diagrams showing the positional relationship between the cassette 1 and the main parts of the printer when the printer is viewed from the right side. [Explanation of symbols for main parts] 1 ... Recording material cassette 1a ... Main body 1b ... Ink sheet winding unit 2 ... Image receiving paper 3 ... Image receiving paper supply chamber 4 ... Ink sheet 5 ... Ink sheet supply Chamber 6 …… Main body housing 7 …… Compression spring 8 …… Loading plate 9a …… Image paper feed roller hole 9b …… Image paper discharge port 10 …… Window 11a …… Main body lock hole 11b …… Ink sheet Locking hole for supply roller 11c …… Notch hole for separating cassette 12 …… Guide groove 13 …… Ink sheet supply roller 13a …… Rubber ring 14 …… Ink sheet take-up roller 14a …… Ink sheet take-up roller gear 15 …… Ink sheet take-up housing 15a …… Projection piece 16 …… Ink sheet take-up gear hole 17a …… Lever shaft 17b …… Cassette coupling lever 17c …… Lever return spring 17d …… Spring wind shaft 17e …… Notch 18 ... … Lever hooking pin 19 …… Holding mechanism of ink sheet take-up section 1b 20a …… Left side cassette guide 20b …… Right side cassette guide 20c …… Connecting plate 21 …… Cassette separating slide plate 22 …… Lever pushing up protrusion 23… … 3rd solenoid (for separating cassette) 23a …… Plunger 23b …… Plunger return spring 24 …… Cassette loading slot 25 …… Ejection port for printed image receiving paper 26 …… Gear 27 …… Gear 28 …… Gear 29 …… Second motor 30 …… Cassette transport rubber roller 31 …… Right side cassette guide 32 …… Left side cassette guide 33 …… First solenoid for locking the main unit 34 …… Plunger 35 …… First clutch 36 …… Thermal head 37 …… Mounting base 38 …… Axis 39 …… Carriage 39a …… Cam follower 39b …… Guide roller 39c …… Guide roller 40 …… Frame 41 …… Frame base 42 …… Spring 43 …… Stopper 44 a …… Ink sheet guide roller 44b …… Ink sheet guide roller 44c …… Ink sheet guide roller 45 …… Guide plate 46 …… Cam 47 …… Gear 47a …… Rotating shaft 47b …… Gear 48 …… Gear 49a …… cam 49b …… cam 49c …… cam 49d …… axis 50 …… second clutch 50a …… gear 51 …… gear 51a …… whole gear 51b …… intermittent gear 52 …… limit switch detection cam 53 ...... Limit switch detection cam 54 …… Roller up / down cam 55 …… Axis 56 …… Roller holding lever 57 …… Bearing 58 …… Roller bearing 59 …… Axis 60 …… Gear 61 …… Gear 62 …… Roller axis 63a …… Substrate (left side) 63b …… Substrate (right side) 64 …… Bearing 65 …… Bearing 66 …… Axis 67 …… Axis 68 …… Cam follower 69 …… Tension spring 70 …… Receiving paper feed roller 71 …… Gear 72 …… Gear 73 …… Rotary shaft 74 …… Third clutch 75 …… Gear 76 …… Platen 76a… Cylindrical part 76b …… Side part 76c …… Rubber part 76d …… Shaft part 76e …… Platen origin position detection cam 77 …… Gear 78 …… 1st stepping motor 79 …… Gear 80 …… Cam shaft 81 …… 4-clutch (one-position clutch) 82 …… Cam 83 …… Shaft (rotating shaft of claw 84) 84 …… Receiving paper / chucking claw 84a …… Left arm (clamp part) 84b …… Right arm 84c …… Cam follower part 85 ...... Torsion spring 86 …… Second solenoid (for locking ink sheet supply roller) 87 …… Plunger 88 …… Plate 88a …… Axis 88b …… Axis 89 …… Axis 90 …… Plate rotation limiting pin 91 …… Screw spring 92… … Guide plate 93 …… Guide plate 94 …… Pressure contact roller 95 …… Lever 95a …… Rotating shaft 96 …… Extension spring 97 …… Pressure contact roller 98 …… Upper guide plate 99 …… Lower guide plate 100 …… For paper ejection Roller (for driving) 101 …… Paper ejection roller (for press contact) 102 …… Press contact spring 103… Pulley 104 …… Pulley 105 …… Belt 106 …… Rotary shaft 107 …… Rotary shaft 108 …… Frame plate 109 …… Bearing hole (left side) 110 …… Bearing hole (right side) 111 …… Third motor 112 …… Axis 113 …… Gear 114 …… Compression spring 115 …… Power switch 116 …… Print switch 117 …… Display 118 …… Pin LSw1 …… First limit switch LSw2 …… Second limit switch LSw3 …… Third limit switch LSw4 ...... 4th limit switch LSw5 ...... 5th limit switch LSw6 ...... 6th limit switch LSw7 ...... 7th limit switch LSw8 ...... 8th limit switch LSw9 ...... 9th limit switch OP-1 ...... 1st optical detection Container (for cueing the Y-color ink layer area) OP-2: Second photodetector (for detecting the presence or absence of image receiving paper 2)

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer printer comprising a thermal head and a platen disposed opposite to the thermal head, wherein a first housing for accommodating an unused ink sheet and a starting end of the ink sheet are attached. And a second housing provided with an ink sheet take-up roller, wherein a recording material cassette in which the first housing and the second housing are detachable from each other is used. When loaded, separate the first and second housings,
The ink sheet stretched between them is arranged so as to be located between the thermal head and the platen, and when the recording material cassette is taken out from the printer, the first housing and the second housing are united again and the above-mentioned A thermal transfer printer characterized in that an ink sheet is housed inside a space formed by these housings. 2. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording material cassette has an image receiving paper storage portion formed in the first housing. 3. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording material cassette has an image receiving paper storage portion formed in the second housing. 4. A recording material cassette between a mounting opening for loading the recording material cassette, the mounting opening, and a first predetermined position set deeper than a position where the thermal head and the platen face each other. And a first holding means for fixing one of the first housing and the second housing to the first predetermined position, and the conveying means after fixing the one housing. A second holding means for fixing the other unfixed housing, which is conveyed by the above, to a second predetermined position set between the mounting opening and the facing position. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1. 5. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 4, wherein the recording material cassette has an image receiving paper storage portion formed in the other housing. 6. A thermal transfer printer according to claim 4, further comprising detection means for detecting the position of the recording material cassette and the state of the merged / separated state in the conveying path of the recording material cassette. . 7. A detection means for detecting the position of the recording material cassette and the state of coalescence / separation is provided on the conveying path of the recording material cassette, and the detecting means is arranged in the conveying path in order from the side closer to the mounting port. The first, second, and third detectors are provided, and the distance between the first and third detectors is made longer than the total length of the recording material cassette in the combined state. 5. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 4, wherein the distance between the detectors is set shorter than the total length of the recording material cassette in the combined state.