JP2001180023A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer printer wherein a reciprocated recording sheet does not have a trouble such as deformation or protuberance even when color printing is executed by reciprocating the recording sheet. SOLUTION: In this thermal transfer printer P, when an ink ribbon cassette 13 is loaded to a cassette loading section 1d, a sheet feeding passage 20 capable of feeding the recording sheet 21 is formed between a frame 1 and a bottom face 15d of a body 15 of the ink ribbon cassette 13. A sheet supplying hole 9 and a sheet discharge hole 10 capable of supplying and discharging the recording sheet 21, respectively are provided to the identical face side of the frame 1 in continuous engagement with the sheet feeding passage 20. As a result, it is possible to supply the recording sheet 21 to a thermal head 5 and to discharge from the thermal head 5 through the sheet feeding passage 20 from or to the identical face side of the frame 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer having a paper feed port and a paper discharge port capable of properly feeding and discharging recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a long thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged and arranged along the width direction of a recording sheet has been used as a recording apparatus for rapidly performing recording on a recording sheet line by line or page by page. Was used (not shown).

In such a conventional thermal transfer printer, a platen roller is disposed substantially at the center of the frame, and the long thermal head is disposed at a position facing the pretension roller. The roller can contact and separate. On one side of the frame, a paper feed port for feeding recording paper made of cut paper to the thermal head is provided, and the paper feed port guides the width direction of the recording paper. I have. Therefore, the recording paper fed from the paper feed port can be reliably positioned in the width direction and fed to the thermal head.

A paper feed roller and a pressure roller for pressing the paper feed roller are provided downstream of the thermal head in the direction in which the paper is fed to the thermal head. The front end of the recording paper fed from the paper feed port is pressed and held by a paper feed roller and a pressure roller, and the recording paper is fed to the thermal head by rotating the paper feed roller. The paper can be discharged downstream of the paper feed roller in the paper feeding direction. On the other surface of the frame opposite to the one surface on which the paper feed port is formed, a paper discharge port capable of discharging recording paper discharged downstream of the paper feed roller to the outside of the printer is formed. Have been.

In order to print an image on recording paper with such a thermal transfer printer, first, an ink ribbon cassette is mounted on a cassette mounting portion formed inside the frame, and the recording paper is formed on one surface of the frame. From the paper feed slot,
Paper is fed between the thermal head and the platen roller. Next, the thermal head is lowered with respect to the platen roller, the ink ribbon and the recording paper are pressed against the platen roller, and the paper feed roller is rotated to convey the recording paper to the downstream side of the thermal head. Thereby, the ink of the ink ribbon is thermally transferred to the recording paper, and a desired image is printed on the recording paper. Then, the paper feed roller is rotated in the same direction as during printing, and the recording paper after printing is discharged to the outside of the printer from a discharge port formed on the other surface of the frame.

In the case of performing color printing on recording paper by a conventional thermal transfer printer, an ink ribbon cassette containing a color ink ribbon is mounted on a cassette mounting portion.
The thermal head is lowered with respect to the platen roller, the ink ribbon and the recording paper are pressed against the platen roller, and the paper feed roller is rotated forward to supply the recording paper.
By repeating the operation of transporting the recording head to the downstream side and the operation of raising the thermal head, rotating the paper feed roller in reverse, and returning the recording paper to the upstream side which is the paper feed port side, the ink ribbon is different. A color image is printed on recording paper by sequentially printing color inks in order.

[0007]

However, the width of the recording paper varies within a tolerance, and when the recording paper having a smaller width is inserted into the paper feeding port, the recording paper may not be moved with respect to the paper feeding port. It may be inserted slightly obliquely. for that reason,
When performing color printing on recording paper by repeating forward and reverse rotation of the paper feed roller, the width direction of the rear end of the recording paper hits the side in the width direction of the paper feed port, deforming into recording paper, or The swelling occurs, and it becomes impossible to perform normal overprinting of inks of different colors. Therefore, there is a problem that the print quality of a color image is reduced.

Further, when the ink ribbon comes into close contact with the recording paper at the time of discharge, the ink ribbon is pulled out together with the discharged recording paper, so that there is a problem that the ink ribbon sags and normal printing cannot be performed. Was. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and even in a case where color printing is performed by reciprocating a recording sheet, a thermal transfer printer that does not cause deformation or swelling or the like on the reciprocating recording sheet. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

As a first means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a thermal transfer printer of the present invention comprises an ink revolving cassette having an ink ribbon housed in a main body, and a cassette having a detachable ink ribbon cassette. Frame, a thermal head cantilevered by the frame, a platen roller provided at a position facing the thermal head and capable of coming in contact with and separating from the thermal head, A paper feed roller provided on the downstream side of the thermal head in the direction in which paper is fed to the thermal head. When the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the cassette mounting section, the frame and the bottom surface of the main body of the ink ribbon cassette are connected to each other. A paper transport path capable of transporting the recording paper is formed therebetween, and the recording paper A paper feed port and a paper discharge port are respectively provided on the same surface side of the frame, and the recording paper is fed to the thermal head from the same surface side of the frame via the paper transport path; and Paper can be discharged from the printer.

[0010] As a second means for solving the above-mentioned problem, the recording paper fed from the paper feed port to the thermal head via the paper transport path is directed to the paper feed roller. By rotating and reversing, the paper can be fed to the thermal head and can be discharged from the thermal head.

As a third means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the width of the paper feed port is formed substantially equal to the width of the recording paper, and the width of the paper discharge port is the same as the width of the recording paper. The configuration is such that it is formed larger than the width dimension of the paper feed port.

As a fourth means for solving the above-mentioned problem, the paper feed port and the paper discharge port are provided vertically adjacent to each other on the same surface side of the frame, respectively. At the lower part and the paper feed port at the upper part of the paper discharge port.

As a fifth means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the upper part of the frame is shielded by a top plate and the lower part is released, and a shielding member for shielding a part of the released lower part. Wherein the paper transport path is formed between the shielding member and the bottom surface of the ink ribbon cassette, and the shielding member is configured as a guide for the recording paper to the thermal head, and the shielding member includes A pair of guide members having a paper feed groove and a paper discharge groove capable of guiding both ends in the width direction of the recording paper at the time of the paper supply and discharge, and the paper feed groove and the paper discharge groove The paper feed port and the paper discharge port are configured to be divided.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention with an ink ribbon cassette mounted thereon, FIG. 2 is a front view of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a left side view of FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the shielding member according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a left side view of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 4, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are views of an ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the thermal transfer printer P of the present invention, the frame 1 constituting the outer shell is formed in a substantially rectangular housing with a hollow inside. The frame 1 is made of a metal plate, and a side plate 1a is disposed on the near side shown in FIG. 2 and a side plate 1b is disposed on the back side facing the side plate 1a with a predetermined interval, and the side plates 1a and 1b The upper part of the sandwiched cavity is shielded by the top plate 1c, and the lower part is released. A plate-shaped shielding member 2 that shields a part below the released frame 1 is provided.

Inside the cavity of the frame 1, there is provided a cassette mounting portion 1d in which an ink ribbon cassette 13 described later can be mounted, and a cassette insertion opening 1e constituting a part of the cassette mounting portion 1d is located on the front side. It is stamped and formed on the side plate 1a, and one side of the cassette mounting portion 1d is released. An ink ribbon cassette 13 to be described later can be attached to and detached from such a cassette mounting portion 1d through a cassette insertion slot 1e. The shielding member 2 is made of a metal plate, is formed in a substantially rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 6, and has a first paper guide portion 2a and an inclined second paper guide portion 2b as shown in FIG. And a third paper guide 2c extending rightward in the figure from the second paper guide 2b.
A tongue piece 2d as shown in FIG. 6 is formed to extend from the paper guide 2c.

The first and second sheet guides 2a, 2b
Are formed with a plurality of ribs 2e projecting in a streak shape in the conveying direction of the recording paper 21 to be described later.
Further, the contact area with the recording paper 21 is reduced so that the frictional resistance when the recording paper 21 is supplied and discharged is reduced. A cassette insertion slot 1 is provided in the cassette mounting portion 1d.
e on the back side plate 1b opposite to the side plate 1a on which
A rotatable take-up bobbin 3 is provided, and a take-up core 20 of an ink ribbon cassette 13 described later can be engaged with the take-up bobbin 3. A rotatable cylindrical platen roller 4 is disposed between the side plates 1a and 1b of the frame 1 facing each other. The platen roller 4 has a platen drive shaft 4 as shown in FIG.
By a, it is possible to rotate in the directions of arrows E and F.

A thermal head 5 is disposed above and opposite to the platen roller 4 shown in FIG. 2. The thermal head 5 is fixed to a head mounting base 6 with an adhesive or the like via a head substrate 5a. ing. This head mount 6
As shown in FIG. 3, the frame 1 is cantilevered to one side plate 1b of the frame 1 by screwing (not shown) or the like, and its free end 6a projects slightly outward from the cassette insertion opening 1e of the side plate 1a. So that it is attached. The thermal head 5 has a plurality of heating elements (not shown) formed in parallel at positions in the longitudinal direction where the columnar platen roller 4 faces.

A gap 1f having a predetermined size is formed between the top plate 1c of the frame 1 and the head mount 6, and when the ink ribbon cassette 13 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 1d, the ribbon guide portion of the ink ribbon cassette 13 18 are located in the gap 1f. Further, the thermal transfer printer P of the present invention is provided with a wall member 7 made of a resin material for shielding the left cavity of the frame 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, a guide member 8 made of a pair of synthetic resins is provided.
Is in contact. The guide members 8 are attached to both left and right ends of the shielding member 2 so as to face each other. One side of the frame 1 is constituted by the wall member 7 and the guide member 8.

The pair of guide members 8 extend from a paper supply / discharge port 8a formed at the lower part shown in FIG. 6 to a guide part 8b at the upper part in the figure, and have a vertically elongated shape in the figure. The pair of guide members 8 are provided with recording paper 21 at the time of paper supply and discharge.
Paper feed groove 9a and paper discharge groove 1 that can guide both ends in the width direction of
0a is provided in the paper supply / discharge unit 8a. A paper discharge groove 9a is formed at a lower portion, and a paper feed groove 10a is formed at an upper portion adjacent to each other. The paper discharge groove 10a is formed deeper than the paper supply groove 9a, and the paper supply port 9 having the width A and the paper discharge port 10 having the width B are separated by the paper supply groove 9a and the paper discharge groove 10a. It is provided.

The paper feed port 9 is covered at its upper part with the lower part of the wall member 7, and the paper discharge port 10 is covered at its lower part with the first paper guide portion 2 a of the shielding member 2. The recording paper 21, which will be described later, can be supplied to and discharged from the thermal head 5 through the paper exit 10. The paper feed port 9 and the paper discharge port 10 are provided vertically adjacent to each other on a pair of guide members 8 constituting one side surface of the frame 1. Is provided above the paper discharge port 10. The paper feed port 9
The paper discharge port 10 is provided on the same side, which is one side surface of the frame 1, so that the recording paper 21 can be fed and discharged from the same side of the frame 1.

The width dimension A of the paper feeding port 9 is
And the width B of the paper discharge port 10
Is formed to be larger than the width A of the paper feed port 9. The portion of the guide member 8 opposed to each other shown in FIG. 6 that is sandwiched between the guide portions 8b is formed to have the same width A as the paper feed port 9. A rotatable columnar paper feed roller 11 is disposed on the right side of the platen roller 4 shown in FIG. 1 and downstream of the platen roller 4 in the direction of arrow C in which the recording paper 21 is conveyed. The paper feed roller 11
, A rotatable pressure roller 12 is pressed, and the pressure roller 12 rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the paper feed roller 11.

The ink ribbon cassette 13 used in the thermal transfer printer P of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The ink ribbon cassette 13 has a substantially elliptical shape for accommodating the ink ribbon 14, as shown in FIG. A main body 15 having a cavity is formed. The main body 15 houses a rotatable supply core 16 and a take-up core 17 around which both ends of the ink ribbon 14 are wound. The main body 15 is formed with a pair of side walls 15a facing each other on the near side and the back side in the figure, and has a hollow interior with a case 15b facing up and down in the figure.

Further, a case 15 below the main body 15 is shown.
b is configured such that the outer surface is the bottom surface 15 d of the main body 15. When the ink ribbon cassette 13 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 1d, the bottom surface 15d
A sheet conveyance path 20 as shown in FIG. 1 capable of conveying the recording sheet 21 is formed between the sheet conveying path 20 and the shielding member 2. The recording sheet 21 can be supplied and discharged continuously to the sheet conveyance path 20. A paper feed port 9 and a paper discharge port 10 are provided on the same surface side of the frame 1.

The ink ribbon 14 wound around the supply core 16 is provided on the right side case 15b of the supply core 16 provided in the main body 15 shown in FIG. A slit-shaped ribbon pull-out port 15c that can be pulled out from the slit is formed. A triangular paper guide 15e is formed on the outside of the case 15b near the ribbon outlet 15c so as to protrude in the direction of the arrow G of the ink ribbon 14.

Further, a ribbon guide portion 18 is formed extending from the upper right portion of the main body portion 15 shown in FIG. 7 to one side in the right direction in the figure.
5 and a main body 1 at the bottom.
5 and a ribbon sliding contact wall 18a connecting the pair of side walls 15a.
5b, a ribbon running groove 18b having a predetermined gap size is formed. A ribbon folding portion 18c is formed at the right end of the ribbon guide portion 18 in the drawing, and a rotatable roller is disposed in the ribbon folding portion 18c.

A head mounting supported by a side plate 1b of the frame 1 of the thermal transfer printer P is provided between the ink ribbon 14 drawn out from the ribbon draw-out opening 15c to the ribbon folding portion 18c and the ribbon sliding contact wall 18a. A head insertion portion 19 into which the table 7 can be inserted is formed. Also,
Right side wall 15a of the ink ribbon cassette 13 shown in FIG.
Is formed with a projection 23. When the ink ribbon cassette 13 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 1d, the positioning projection 23 is engaged with the positioning hole 1g of the side plate 1b, and the ink ribbon cassette 13 is positioned. Has become.

The ink ribbon 14 wound around the supply core 16 is once rotated to the outside by the rotation of the take-up core 17 in the direction of the arrow E, and then the ink ribbon 14 wound around the supply core 16 is once taken out of the ribbon outlet 15c. The ribbon guide portion 6 is pulled out, is routed under the head insertion portion 19 in the direction of arrow G, and is allowed to travel on the ribbon sliding contact wall 18a of the ribbon guide portion 6 from the folded state at the ribbon return portion 18c. It is drawn back into the main body 15 and can be wound around the winding core 17. The recording paper 21 is made of cut paper having a width substantially equal to the width A of the paper feed port 8, and the width of the recording paper 21 has some variation within a tolerance. The recording paper 21 fed from the paper feed port 8 has a front end (not shown) whose first, second, and third paper guides 2a, 2b, 2
c, passes over the platen roller 4 and can be pressed and held between the paper feed roller 11 and the pressure roller 12.

Then, the ink ribo cassette 13 is
When the thermal transfer printer P according to the present invention is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 1d, the free end 6a of the head mounting base 6 shown in FIG. 3 is located at the head insertion part 19 of the ribbon cassette 13, and the ribbon guide part 18 is connected to the head mounting base. 6 and a top plate 1 c of the frame 1. The ink ribbon 14 pulled out from the ribbon pull-out port 15c toward the ribbon turn-back portion 18c is guided by the head mount 6 and located between the thermal head 5 and the platen roller 4. The take-up core 17 is engaged with the take-up bobbin 3, and the ink ribbon 14 can be taken up from the supply core 16 to the take-up core 17 by rotation of the take-up bobbin 3.

To print the recording paper 21 by mounting the ink ribbon cassette 13 in the cassette mounting portion 1d of the thermal transfer printer P of the present invention, first, feed the recording paper 21 from the paper feeding port 9 in the direction indicated by the arrow J. Insert in the direction. Then, the recording paper 21 is guided on the second paper guide portion 2a of the shielding member 2 from the paper transport path 20, and is transported between the platen roller 4 and the ink ribbon 14, and the front end (not shown) is moved. It is pressed and held between the paper feed roller 11 and the pressing roller 12.
Next, the platen roller 4 is rotated in the direction of the arrow E toward the thermal head 5 to press and hold the ink ribbon 14 and the recording paper 21 against the thermal head 5.

Then, a plurality of heating elements (not shown) of the thermal head 5 are selectively heated based on the print information, and the paper feed roller 11 is rotated clockwise in FIG. When the ink is transported to the downstream side of the paper feed roller 11 in the transport direction of C, the ink of the ink ribbon 14 is transferred to the recording paper 21, and a desired image can be printed on the recording paper 21. Further, the ink ribbon 14 after the ink has been transferred to the recording paper 21 is wound around the winding core 17 by the rotation of the winding bobbin 3, and is drawn around the ribbon sliding contact wall 18a from the ribbon folding portion 18c. Then, it is pulled into the main body 15 from the ribbon running groove 18b. For this reason, even if the ink ribbon 14 is in close contact with the recording paper 21 during printing or after printing, when the recording paper 21 is returned in the direction of arrow D, the ink ribbon 14 moves together with the movement of the recording paper 21. Is not pulled, and no trouble such as slack occurs in the ink ribbon 14.

After the desired image is printed on the recording paper 21, the platen roller 4 is moved to the thermal head 5 indicated by an arrow F.
To release the pressure contact between the recording paper 21 and the ink ribbon 14. Then, the paper feed roller 1
1 is reversed in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, and the recording paper 21 is returned in the direction of arrow D and discharged. At the time of this sheet discharging operation, the recording sheet 21 has its rear end portion 21a in contact with the slope of the substantially triangular sheet guide 15e, and
5 is conveyed to the bottom surface 15 d side, and conveyed from the paper conveyance path 20 to the paper discharge port 10.

When the recording paper 21 is discharged, the pressure contact between the paper feed roller 11 and the pressure roller 12 is released, and the rear end 21a is discharged from the discharge port 10 by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow K. You. Then, the operator manually removes the recording paper 21 discharged from the thermal transfer printer P by a predetermined amount from the thermal transfer printer P.

When the ink ribbon 14 is for color printing in which inks of a plurality of colors, for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, etc., are sequentially applied in a gang shape, a plurality of inks of cyan, magenta, yellow are used. The ink is overprinted on the recording paper 21 to print a color image. In such an operation for performing color printing, first, the ink ribbon 14 and the recording paper 21 are pressed and held by the platen 4 against the thermal head 6.

Then, an operation of transferring the ink of the ink ribbon 14 while transporting the recording paper 21 fed to the paper feed roller 11 in the transport direction of arrow C;
Is separated from the thermal head 5, the paper feed roller 11 is reversed, and the operation of returning the recording paper 21 in the direction of the arrow D is repeated, so that inks of a plurality of different colors are overprinted on the recording paper to obtain a desired color. Images are to be printed.

The thermal transfer printer P of the present invention has a
Is formed wider than the width A of the paper feed port 9 and the paper discharge port 10 is formed below the paper feed port 9, so that the width of the recording paper 21 varies, and Even if the recording paper 21 inserted from the opening 9 is slightly inclined and fed to the thermal head 5, the recording paper 21 to be discharged after the printing is finished has a discharge port in the width direction of the rear end 21a. Thus, high-quality paper discharge can be performed without hitting the recording paper 10 and without deforming the recording paper 21. Further, since the rear end portion 21a of the recording paper 21 does not hit the paper discharge port 10 at the time of paper discharge, the recording paper 21 being discharged does not swell toward the ink ribbon 14, and the recording paper 21 Does not stick, and the ink ribbon 14 does not sag.

As another embodiment of the thermal transfer printer P of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
The discharge port 30 having the width 9 and the width B may be formed directly on the wall member 27 at the time of molding. In this case, the lower part of the paper discharge port 30 is covered with the shielding member 22. Further, the recording paper 21 fed between the paper feed roller 11 and the pressure roller 12 is fed once in the direction of arrow C before printing, and the operation of returning the recording paper 21 in the direction of arrow D is performed again. By performing printing, it is possible to further prevent deformation or the like of the recording paper 21 at the time of discharging.

[0038]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, a paper supply port and a paper discharge port capable of supplying and discharging recording paper are provided on the same surface side of the frame, respectively. Side, the recording paper can be fed to the thermal head via the paper transport path and can be discharged from the thermal head, so that the recording paper can be fed and discharged from the same side of the frame. Paper separation is possible only on one side, and a paper guide or the like is not required on the other side, so that a thermal transfer printer with a simple structure can be provided.

The recording paper fed from the paper feed port to the thermal head via the paper transport path is rotated by rotating the paper feed roller forward or backward.
Since the paper can be fed to and discharged from the thermal head, recording paper can be fed and discharged only by rotating the paper feed roller, and a thermal transfer printer with a simple structure can be provided.

The width of the paper feed port is formed substantially equal to the width of the recording paper, and the width of the paper discharge port is formed larger than the width of the paper feed port. When the paper is fed, the width direction of the recording paper is reliably guided and guided by the thermal head, and after printing is completed, the width direction of the recording paper does not collide with the paper discharge port when the paper is discharged, and the recording that occurs when the paper is discharged Deformation of the sheet can be reliably prevented.

Further, the paper feed port and the paper discharge port are respectively provided vertically adjacent on the same surface side of the frame, and the paper discharge port is provided at a lower portion, and the paper feed port is provided at the paper discharge port. Since the recording paper is provided at the upper portion of the recording paper, it is possible to reliably guide the recording paper at the time of paper discharge to the wide discharge port, and to prevent deformation of the recording paper at the time of paper discharge.

The shielding member is configured as a guide for feeding and discharging the recording paper to and from the thermal head.
The shielding member is provided with a pair of guide members having a paper feed groove and a paper discharge groove capable of guiding both ends in the width direction of the recording paper at the time of the paper supply and discharge, and the paper feed groove and the paper discharge Since the paper feed port and the paper discharge port are divided by the groove, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer printer that can easily manufacture the paper feed port and the paper discharge port.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part in a state where an ink ribbon cassette is mounted on a thermal transfer printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a shielding member according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part of the ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a right side view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (5)

[Claims] An ink ribbon cassette accommodating an ink ribbon in a main body, a frame having a cassette mounting portion to which the ink ribbon cassette can be attached and detached, a thermal head supported by the frame, and a position facing the thermal head. A platen roller that can be brought into contact with and separated from the thermal head, and a paper feed roller provided downstream of the thermal head in a direction in which recording paper is fed to the thermal head, When the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the cassette mounting portion, a paper transport path capable of transporting the recording paper is formed between the frame and the bottom surface of the main body of the ink ribbon cassette, and the recording paper is provided in the paper transport path. Are provided on the same surface side of the frame, respectively, and are provided from the same surface side of the frame. A thermal transfer printer wherein the recording paper can be supplied to the thermal head via the paper transport path and can be discharged from the thermal head. 2. The recording paper fed from the paper feed port to the thermal head via the paper transport path is fed to the thermal head by rotating the paper feed roller forward or backward. 2. A thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein said thermal head is capable of discharging paper from said thermal head. 3. The width of the paper feed port is formed substantially equal to the width of the recording paper, and the width of the paper discharge port is formed larger than the width of the paper feed port. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The paper feed port and the paper discharge port are respectively provided vertically adjacent to the same surface side of the frame,
4. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the discharge port is provided at a lower portion, and the paper supply port is provided at an upper portion of the discharge port. 5. The frame has an upper part shielded by a top plate, a lower part opened, and a shielding member for shielding a part of the released lower part. The sheet conveying path is formed between the recording sheet and a bottom surface; the shielding member is configured as a guide for the recording sheet to the thermal head; A pair of guide members having a paper feed groove and a paper discharge groove capable of guiding both ends of the paper feed groove are provided.
5. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the discharge port is divided.