JP2018122581A - Printing head device and transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

A sub print head for erasing printed information is brought into contact with an ink ribbon in a suitable posture according to the winding amount of the ink ribbon. An arm main body (62A) swingably supported by a reference shaft portion (71) arranged parallel to an ink ribbon winding shaft (12), and a swinging end portion of the arm main body (62A) parallel to the reference shaft portion (71). A swing arm 62 having a connecting shaft portion 72 provided at 62B. A head holder arm 63 is connected to the connecting shaft portion 72 of the swing arm 62. The head holder arm 63 includes a tip portion 63A connected to the connecting shaft portion 72 and a guide shaft portion arranged parallel to the reference shaft portion 71. and a base end portion 63B provided with a long hole 63C through which the 73 is inserted. A print head 64 that contacts the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 is held on the tip portion 63A side of the head holder arm 63 . The head holder arm 63 moves relative to the guide shaft portion 73 along the elongated hole 63C in accordance with the swing of the swing end portion 62B. [Selection drawing] Fig. 3

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a print head device for further performing printing on an ink ribbon in order to erase print information remaining on the ink ribbon after ink transfer, and a transfer device including the print head device.

  2. Description of the Related Art A transfer system that uses an ink ribbon to print an image such as a character on a transfer object such as a card is widely used. The ink ribbon has a belt-like ribbon (support layer) and an ink layer formed on the ribbon and containing a dye or the like. In printing using such an ink ribbon, the ink from the ink layer is transferred to the transfer medium in a pattern corresponding to a desired image to be printed. In this case, the ink ribbon on which the ink has been transferred has a pattern in which a portion from which ink has been removed by the transfer is printed. Therefore, it is possible to specify an image printed from the ink ribbon after ink transfer. Therefore, when printing information to be concealed such as ID information on a transfer medium using an ink ribbon, care must be taken in handling the ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink.

  In order to cope with such a problem, the applicant of the present application has previously proposed a thermal transfer type transfer system including a first transfer device and a second transfer device. In this system, a first transfer device performs printing on a transfer medium, and the second transfer device is disposed in the vicinity of a take-up shaft that winds up an ink ribbon that has been subjected to ink transfer. The outer periphery of the ink ribbon wound around the winding shaft by the heating body is heated (see Patent Document 1). As a result, the ink can be transferred to the inner ink ribbon, and the identification of the image printed by the first transfer device can be prevented.

JP 2011-255564 A

  By the way, in the transfer system of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to move the second transfer device in accordance with the winding amount of the ink ribbon with respect to the winding shaft. In this case, for example, the second transfer device may be configured by an arm that swings around the base end portion as a rotation center and a print head provided at the distal end portion of the arm. In this configuration, since the print head swings according to the winding amount of the ink ribbon wound around the winding shaft, the outer circumference of the print head and the ink ribbon can be increased even when the winding amount of the ink ribbon increases. The contact state with can be maintained.

  However, in the above configuration, the contact state between the print head and the ink ribbon is maintained, but since the arm and the print head are fixed, the posture (angle) of the print head with respect to the ink ribbon is maintained constant. Not. Therefore, the print quality changes according to the amount of ink ribbon wound up. In response to this problem, for example, if the length of the arm is made sufficiently long to suppress the change in the orientation of the print head relative to the ink ribbon according to the swinging of the arm, the change in the print quality is alleviated. However, this measure increases the size of the entire apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and can suppress the size of the print head and allow the print head to contact the ink ribbon in a suitable posture according to the amount of winding of the ink ribbon. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a transfer apparatus including the apparatus.

  A print head device according to the present invention is a print head device that performs a printing operation on the outer peripheral surface of an ink ribbon wound around a winding shaft of an ink ribbon, and is a reference shaft disposed in parallel with the winding shaft. A swing arm having an arm body that is swingably supported by a portion, and a connecting shaft portion provided at a swing end portion of the arm body in a state parallel to the reference shaft portion, and the swing arm A head holder arm having a distal end portion rotatably connected to the connecting shaft portion, and a base end portion provided with a long hole through which a guide shaft portion arranged in parallel with the reference shaft portion is inserted. A print head that is held on the tip end side of the head holder arm and is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon, the head holder arm swinging the swing end of the swing arm. The guide is moved along the slot according to the movement. And is movable relative to the shaft portion, it is, print head device according to claim.

  According to the print head device of the present invention, when the take-up amount of the ink ribbon wound around the take-up shaft increases, the print head is moved by the ink ribbon, and thus swings through the connecting shaft portion. The swing end of the arm swings. Then, the head holder arm moves with respect to the guide shaft along the long hole in response to the swing of the swing end portion, so that the swing arm of the print head held by the head holder arm. The relative orientation with respect to changes. As a result, it is possible to suppress the change in the posture of the print head relative to the ink ribbon before and after the change in the winding amount of the ink ribbon, while avoiding the enlargement of the swing arm. Therefore, the print head can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon in a suitable posture according to the amount of winding of the ink ribbon while suppressing the size of the entire print head device.

  In the print head device according to the present invention, the guide shaft portion is arranged on a circular rotation locus of the connection shaft portion drawn by rotating the connection shaft portion around the reference shaft portion, When the connecting shaft portion is positioned at a reference position set at one point on the circular locus, the connecting shaft portion, the reference shaft portion, and the guide shaft portion are arranged in a straight line. Also good.

  In this case, the angle formed by the straight line connecting the reference position and the connecting shaft portion moved from the reference position and the straight line connecting the connecting shaft portion and the guide shaft portion is always 90 ° regardless of the position of the connecting shaft portion. It becomes possible to do. The center of the take-up shaft of the ink ribbon is positioned at the reference position, and the print head is brought into contact with the ink ribbon along a straight line connecting the reference position and the connecting shaft portion moved from the reference position. When arranged, the print head can always be brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon in a state orthogonal to the tangent at the contact position between the ink ribbon and the print head. As a result, the print head can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon in an optimum posture for printing regardless of the winding amount of the ink ribbon, and the print quality can be kept constant.

  Further, the print head device according to the present invention is connected to the reference shaft portion and rotates integrally with the reference shaft portion, and a side where the contact portion of the print head with the ink ribbon is located with respect to the swing arm. And a drive mechanism having a drive arm disposed on the opposite side of the drive arm and an elastic member provided between the drive arm and the swing arm.

  In this case, the print head can be pressed against the ink ribbon by rotating the drive arm in the drive mechanism toward the swing arm and pressing the swing arm toward the ink ribbon via the elastic member.

  The print head device according to the present invention may further include a position detection sensor that detects an amount of expansion and contraction of the elastic member between the drive arm and the swing arm.

  In this case, the head pressure on the ink ribbon of the print head can be kept constant at a desired value by stopping the rotation of the drive arm according to the expansion / contraction amount of the elastic member.

  The transfer apparatus according to the present invention also includes an ink ribbon cassette having an ink ribbon having one end fixed to the winding shaft and the other end fixed to the winding shaft, and a cassette case for storing the ink ribbon. A main print head device that performs a printing operation on the ink ribbon for transferring an image to a transfer target, and the print head device as a sub print head device that erases print information by the main print head device And a transfer device characterized by comprising:

  According to the transfer device of the present invention, the printing information on the ink ribbon printed by the main printing head device can be erased accurately by providing the above-described printing head device.

  In the transfer device according to the present invention, the ink ribbon cassette and the print head device are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other, and when the ink ribbon cassette and the print head device are viewed along a direction adjacent to each other, the print head The reference shaft portion, the connecting shaft portion, and the guide shaft portion in the apparatus may be located within the outer shape of the ink ribbon cassette.

  In this case, the overall configuration of the transfer device can be made compact by suppressing the dimension in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the ink ribbon cassette and the print head device are arranged in particular, and the transfer device can be arranged side by side with a similar transfer device. The occupied area can be suppressed extremely usefully.

  According to the present invention, the print head can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon in a suitable posture corresponding to the amount of winding of the ink ribbon while suppressing the size of the entire print head device.

It is a side view of the transfer device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the principal part of the print head apparatus which comprises the transfer apparatus shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the principal part of the print head apparatus of the state which removed the one part member shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a print head device constituting the transfer device shown in FIG. 1 at a different viewpoint from FIG. 2. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which follows the VV line of FIG. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of the said print head apparatus. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of the said print head apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the layout which has arrange | positioned the transfer apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with the same transfer apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Transfer device>
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a transfer apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer device 100 according to the present embodiment includes an ink ribbon cassette 1, a main print head device 40, and a sub print head device 60. The main print head device 40 is a device that performs a printing operation on the ink ribbon 13 provided from the ink ribbon cassette 1 for transferring an image to a transfer target. The sub print head device 60 is a main print head device. 40 is an apparatus for erasing the print information by 40. Hereinafter, the details of each part constituting the transfer apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Ink ribbon cassette)
First, the ink ribbon cassette 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon cassette 1 includes an ink ribbon body 10 and a cassette case 20 that houses the ink ribbon body 10. The ink ribbon body 10 has an unwinding shaft 11, a winding shaft 12, and a strip-shaped ink ribbon 13 extending between the unwinding shaft 11 and the winding shaft 12. The ink ribbon 13 is, for example, It has a belt-like ribbon (support layer) and an ink layer formed on the ribbon and containing a dye or the like. One end of the ink ribbon 13 is fixed to the unwinding shaft 11, and a predetermined amount of the ink ribbon 13 is wound around the unwinding shaft 11, and the other end of the ink ribbon 13 is fixed to the winding shaft 12.

  The take-up shaft 12 can wind the ink ribbon 13 wound around the unwind shaft 11 by its rotation. As a result, the ink ribbon body 10 winds the ink ribbon 13 on which the printing by the main print head device 40 is performed on the take-up shaft 12, thereby removing unused portions of the ink ribbon 13 from the main print head device 40. It can be provided sequentially.

  The cassette case 20 includes plate-like first side walls 21 and second side walls 22 that face each other with a certain distance therebetween, and a storage space for the ink ribbon body 10 between the first side walls 21 and the second side walls 22. Is forming. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, a part of the cassette case 20 is shown in cross section. In the illustrated example, the first side wall 21 and the second side wall 22 are formed in a rectangular shape, and are connected by a plurality of connecting wall portions not shown in the state in which they face each other. The first side wall 21 extends along the longitudinal direction and faces the first long side portion 21A and the second long side portion 21B. The first side wall 21 extends along the short direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and faces each other. It has 1 short side part 21C and 2nd short side part 21D. Similarly, the second side wall 22 extends along the longitudinal direction and faces the first long side portion 22A and the second long side portion 22B, respectively, and extends along the short direction and faces the first short side. A side portion 22C and a second short side portion 22D.

  In the present embodiment, the cassette case 20 has a first shaft holding portion 31 that holds the unwinding shaft 11 at a substantially central position in the longitudinal direction, and the first shorter side than the first shaft holding portion 31. A second shaft holding portion 32 that holds the winding shaft 12 is provided at a position on the side of the portions 21C and 22C and on the second long side portions 21B and 22B side of the first shaft holding portion 31. The first shaft holding portion 31 and the second shaft holding portion 32 are each configured as a pair, and one of the pair of first shaft holding portions 31 is a hole-like portion provided in the first side wall 21. The unwinding shaft 11 is held in contact with the outer peripheral surface on one end side of the unwinding shaft 11. The other of the pair of first shaft holding portions 31 is a hole-like portion provided in the second side wall 22, and is in contact with the outer peripheral surface on the other end side of the unwinding shaft 11. Configured to hold.

  One of the pair of second shaft holding portions 32 is a hole-like portion provided in the first side wall 21, and holds the winding shaft 12 in contact with the outer peripheral surface on one end side of the winding shaft 12. It is configured as follows. The other of the pair of second shaft holding portions 32 is a hole-shaped portion provided in the second side wall 22, and is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the other end side of the winding shaft 12. Configured to hold. In particular, the second shaft holding portion 32 in the present embodiment is configured to hold the winding shaft 12 rotatably.

  In addition, first to fourth rollers 24 </ b> A to 24 </ b> D are installed between the first side wall 21 and the second side wall 22 in the cassette case 20. When the unwinding shaft 11 is held by the first shaft holding portion 31 and the winding shaft 12 is held by the second shaft holding portion 32 by these rollers 24A to 24D, the ink ribbon 13 from the unwinding shaft 11 is The ink ribbon 13 is stretched so as to reach the winding shaft 12 after extending along the first long sides 21A, 22A, the second short sides 21D, 22D, and the second long sides 21B, 22B. It is possible to do.

  Further, a rectangular slit 26 extending in the longitudinal direction from the second short side portions 21D and 22D is formed in the first side wall 21 and the second side wall 22, and the space inside the slit 26 is formed in the main print head device 40. A placement space is defined. On the other hand, on the first short side portion 21C, 22C side in the cassette case 20, the storage space between the first side wall 21 and the second side wall 22 is opened outward along the longitudinal direction, and the opened portion is interposed therebetween. Thus, the winding shaft 12 is exposed to the outside. The sub print head device 60 is arranged so as to be adjacent to the ink ribbon cassette 1 on the first short side portion 21C, 22C side in the cassette case 20, and is wound around the take-up shaft 12 through the opened portion. A print head 64 described later is brought into contact with the ribbon 13.

(Main print head device)
As shown in FIG. 1, the main print head device 40 is disposed in a storage space formed by the slit 26 in the cassette case 20, and an ink ribbon 13 that crosses the slit 26 and a transfer medium such as a card (not shown). Opposite the platen. In the present embodiment, the main print head device 40 is configured as a thermal head device having a heating body, but the transfer method is not particularly limited. For example, the main print head device 40 may be configured as a dot impact type print head device.

(Sub print head device)
A sub print head device 60 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the sub print head device 60, and FIG. 3 is a print head in a state in which a part of members (a drive arm 81 described later) is removed from the sub print head device 60 shown in FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the device 60. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main part of the sub print head device 60 from a different viewpoint from FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the sub print head device 60 taken along the line V-V in FIG. . 6 and 7 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the sub print head device 60. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the sub print head device 60 includes a case 61, a swing arm 62, a head holder arm 63 connected to the swing arm 62, and a print held by the head holder arm 63. A head 64 and a drive mechanism 65 for transmitting a driving force for pressing the print head 64 against the ink ribbon 13 or separating the print head 64 from the ink ribbon 13 are provided. In the present embodiment, the sub print head device 60 is disposed above the ink ribbon cassette 1 that is disposed with its longitudinal direction along the vertical direction. In the following description, the direction in which the sub print head device 60 and the ink ribbon cassette 1 are arranged next to each other in FIG. 1 is referred to as the vertical direction, and the direction orthogonal to the vertical direction in FIG. And However, the present invention is not construed as being limited to the directions in the following description. Hereinafter, details of each part constituting the sub print head device 60 will be described.

  First, the case 61 in the present embodiment is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with one side open, and the ink ribbon cassette 1 with the open part facing downward and covering the other members constituting the sub print head device 60 described above. Are arranged adjacent to each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the width dimension of the case 61 in the width direction of the ink ribbon cassette 1 is equal to the width dimension of the ink ribbon cassette 1. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the sub print head device 60 for the ink ribbon cassette 1 is used. The overhang of is suppressed.

  The swing arm 62 includes an arm main body 62A that is swingably supported by a reference shaft portion 71 that is disposed in parallel with the winding shaft 12, and a swing end portion of the arm main body 62A that is parallel to the reference shaft portion 71. 62B, and the reference shaft 71 is disposed substantially above the center in the width direction of the ink ribbon cassette 1, as shown in FIG. The reference shaft portion 71 extends between the wall portions of the case 61 facing each other in the axial direction, and both end portions in the axial direction of the reference shaft portion 71 are rotatably supported by the corresponding wall portion of the case 61. ing. Further, in the present embodiment, the swing arm 62 has a dimension that is wide in the axial direction of the reference shaft portion 71, the connecting shaft portion 72 is configured as a pair, and the both ends of the swing arm 62 in the axial direction are formed. Each is provided with a connecting shaft portion 72.

  The head holder arm 63 is provided with a distal end portion 63A that is rotatably connected to the connecting shaft portion 72 of the swing arm 62, and a long hole 63C through which a guide shaft portion 73 disposed in parallel with the reference shaft portion 71 is inserted. The pair of arm main bodies 63X having the base end portions 63B, and the pair of arm main bodies 63X extend so as to avoid the connecting shaft portion 72 between the tip end portions 63A of the pair of arm main bodies 63X so as to connect the pair of tip end portions 63A. And a connecting portion 63Y. In this example, the connecting portion 63Y constitutes a mounting portion for the print head 64, and the connecting portion 63Y can be held in a state where the connecting portion 63Y is positioned on the print head 64 between the pair of connecting shaft portions 72. It is possible. The long hole 63 </ b> C extends long along the longitudinal direction of the head holder arm 63.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the guide shaft portion 73 is disposed obliquely above the reference shaft portion 71 on one side in the width direction (right side in the drawing) with respect to the reference shaft portion 71 and the winding shaft 12. 73 extends between the wall portions of the case 61 facing each other in the axial direction, and both end portions in the axial direction of the guide shaft portion 73 are supported by the corresponding wall portions of the case 61. Here, the head holder arm 63 extends from the guide shaft portion 73 so as to cross the reference shaft portion 71 obliquely downward on the other side in the width direction (left side in FIG. 1). As a result, the front end portion 63A of the head holder arm 63 is positioned obliquely below the reference shaft portion 71, and the print head 64 held on the front end portion 63A side comes into contact with the winding shaft 12 from above. Yes. Here, as described above, the swing arm 62 and the head holder arm 63 are held by the reference shaft portion 71 and the guide shaft portion 73, so that the head holder arm 63 is connected to the swing end portion 62 </ b> B of the swing arm 62. According to the swing, the guide shaft 73 can move along the long hole 63C.

  The print head 64 is held by the connecting portion 63Y described above and is positioned between the pair of connecting shaft portions 72, and is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft 12 or the winding shaft 12, as shown in FIG. The contact portion 64 </ b> A is disposed in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13. In the present embodiment, the print head 64 is configured as a thermal head device, and the contact portion 64A is configured by a heating surface of a heating body. When the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding shaft 12 increases, the swing arm 62 swings due to the force transmitted through the print head 64, the head holder arm 63, and the connecting shaft portion 72. As a result, the head holder arm 63 rotates with respect to the guide shaft portion 73 along the elongated hole 63C while rotating around the connecting shaft portion 72 in response to the swing of the swing end portion 62B of the swing arm 62. Will move. As a result, the print head 64 makes the contact portion 64 </ b> A contact the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 while changing the direction with respect to the swing arm 62.

  Here, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the positional relationship among the reference shaft portion 71, the connecting shaft portion 72, and the guide shaft portion 73 in this embodiment will be described in detail. First, in this embodiment, the connecting shaft A guide shaft portion 73 is arranged on a circular rotation locus T of the connecting shaft portion 72 drawn by rotating the portion 72 around the reference shaft portion 71. Further, when the connecting shaft portion 72 is positioned at the reference position S set at one point on the circular locus T, the connecting shaft portion 72, the reference shaft portion 71, and the guide shaft portion 73 are arranged on a straight line. The reference position S described above is set at the center of the winding shaft 12.

  Due to the positional relationship as described above, as shown in FIG. 6, a straight line L1 connecting the reference position S and the connecting shaft portion 72 moved from the reference position S, and a straight line L2 connecting the connecting shaft portion 72 and the guide shaft portion 73. It is possible to always make the angle α formed by 90 ° irrespective of the position of the connecting shaft portion 72. Here, in the present embodiment, while the center of the winding shaft 12 is positioned at the reference position S as described above, along the straight line L1 that connects the reference position S and the connecting shaft portion 72 moved from the reference position S. The print head 64 is arranged so that the print head 64 contacts the ink ribbon 13. That is, the print head 64 is held so that the normal line of the surface forming the contact portion 64A of the print head 64 passes on the straight line L1. As a result, even when the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 changes, the print head 64 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 in a state orthogonal to the tangent at the contact position between the ink ribbon 13 and the print head 64. Can always be brought into contact with each other. Thus, in the present embodiment, the print head 64 can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13 in an optimum posture for printing regardless of the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13.

  As is clear from FIG. 1, in this embodiment, when the ink ribbon cassette 1 and the sub print head device 60 are viewed along the adjacent direction, the reference shaft portion 71, the connecting shaft portion 72, and the guide shaft portion. 73 is located in the outer shape of the ink ribbon cassette 1, particularly in the present embodiment in both the width direction and the depth direction. Accordingly, the dimensions of the swing arm 62 and the head holder arm 63 are suppressed, and the case 61 can cover these members in a compact manner.

  On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the drive mechanism 65 is connected to the reference shaft portion 71 and rotates integrally with the reference shaft portion 71, so that the print head 64 contacts the swing arm 62. Between the drive arm 81 disposed on the side opposite to the side where the contact portion 64A is located, the elastic member 82 provided between the drive arm 81 and the swing arm 62, and between the drive arm 81 and the swing arm 62 A position detection sensor 83 for detecting the amount of expansion and contraction of the elastic member 82, and the drive mechanism 65 meshes with the driven gear 84 and a fan-shaped driven gear 84 fixed to one end side of the reference shaft portion 71. A relay gear 85 and a motor 86 that rotates the relay gear 85 by a drive gear 86A.

  In the present embodiment, the elastic member 82 is formed of a coil spring as an example, and the elastic member 82 has one end fixed to the drive arm 81 and the other end directed to the swing arm 62. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the position detection sensor 83 is fixed to the drive arm 81 at a position close to the elastic member 82. The driven gear 84 is disposed below the relay gear 85, and the relay gear 85 is disposed below the motor 86. The relay gear 85 is rotatably held on the wall portion of the case 61, and the motor 86 is fixed to the wall portion of the case 61 that holds the relay gear 85. Further, the axial direction of the drive gear 86A is orthogonal to the axial direction of the relay gear 85 and extends in the width direction. The drive gear 86A is, for example, a worm gear, and the rotational direction of the drive gear 86A is converted to the relay gear 85. To be transmitted. Further, the relay gear 85 has a meshing portion with the drive gear 86A and a meshing portion with the driven gear 84 separately. Thereby, in this Embodiment, the driven gear 84, the relay gear 85, and the motor 86 are accommodated in the case 61 compactly.

  In this drive mechanism 65, the motor 86 can rotate forward and reverse, and when the motor 86 rotates in the forward rotation direction, the drive arm 81 is rotated toward the swing arm 62, and the swing arm 62 is interposed via the elastic member 82. Can be pressed toward the ink ribbon 13, and the print head 64 can be pressed against the ink ribbon 13. At this time, the elastic member 82 is contracted, and the amount of expansion / contraction of the elastic member 82 is detected by the position detection sensor 83. When the elastic member 82 contracts below a predetermined threshold, the driving of the motor 86 is stopped. The head pressure of the print head 64 against the ink ribbon 13 can be controlled to a desired value.

  On the other hand, when the motor 86 rotates in the reverse direction, the drive arm 81 is rotated to the side opposite to the swing arm 62 side. Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, when the drive arm 81 is rotated to a predetermined position on the side away from the swing arm 62, it abuts on a part of the head holder arm 63 from below. A locking portion 81 </ b> A is provided on the drive arm 81. Thus, the drive arm 81 is moved away from the swing arm 62 while the locking portion 81A is in contact with the head holder arm 63, so that the swing arm 62, the head holder arm 63, and the print head 64 are wound. It can be moved away from the spindle 12 and finally moved to the retracted position shown in FIG. In the retracted position, the swing arm 62, the head holder arm 63, and the print head 64 are not overlapped with the ink ribbon cassette 1 in the axial direction of the winding shaft 12.

(Operation)
Next, the operation of the transfer apparatus 100 in the present embodiment will be described.

  When performing the transfer, first, the main print head device 40 is driven, the print head (not shown) performs a printing operation on the ink ribbon 13 in a desired pattern, and a desired pattern is printed on the transfer target. Applied. The ink ribbon 13 on which the printing operation has been performed by the main print head device 40 is sequentially wound around the take-up shaft 12 as the take-up shaft 12 is rotationally driven. Ink ribbon 13 will be provided. On the other hand, the sub print head device 60 performs a printing operation on the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding shaft 12. As a result, printing is performed on the ink ribbon 13 inside the outermost ink ribbon 13, and the print information remaining on the ink ribbon 13 printed by the main print head device 40 can be erased.

  In the present embodiment, the print head 64 is brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13 before the transfer operation, and at this time, the driving arm 81 is rotated to the swing arm 62 side by the driving mechanism 65, via the elastic member 82. By pressing the swing arm 62 toward the ink ribbon 13, the print head 64 is pressed against the ink ribbon 13. At this time, the expansion / contraction amount of the elastic member 82 is detected by the position detection sensor 83, and when the elastic member 82 is contracted below a predetermined threshold, the driving of the motor 86 is stopped. As a result, the head pressure of the print head 64 against the ink ribbon 13 is controlled to a desired value. Therefore, when printing is performed by the sub print head device 60 described above, the sub print head device 60 performs a printing operation with a desired head pressure.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, in the sub print head device 60, the guide shaft is placed on the circular rotation trajectory T of the connection shaft portion 72 drawn by rotating the connection shaft portion 72 around the reference shaft portion 71. Part 73 is arranged. Further, when the connecting shaft portion 72 is positioned at the reference position S set at one point on the circular locus T, the connecting shaft portion 72, the reference shaft portion 71, and the guide shaft portion 73 are arranged on a straight line. The reference position S described above is set at the center of the winding shaft 12. The print head 64 is arranged so that the print head 64 contacts the ink ribbon 13 along a straight line L1 connecting the reference position S and the connecting shaft portion 72 moved from the reference position S. As a result, even when the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 changes, the print head 64 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 in a state orthogonal to the tangent at the contact position between the ink ribbon 13 and the print head 64. Can always be brought into contact with each other. Accordingly, the print head 64 can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13 in an optimum posture for printing regardless of the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13. As a result, the print quality by the sub print head device 60 can be kept constant regardless of the amount of winding of the ink ribbon 13.

  Further, when the transfer device 100 is stopped, the drive mechanism 65 rotates the drive arm 81 to the side opposite to the swing arm 62 side, whereby the swing arm 62, the head holder arm 63, and the print head 64 are moved. You may move to the retracted position shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the swing arm 62, the head holder arm 63, and the print head 64 are not overlapped with the ink ribbon cassette 1 in the axial direction of the take-up shaft 12 at this retracted position. It can be removed by pulling it out in the axial direction of the take-up shaft 12, and the workability at the time of replacement can be improved.

  In the present embodiment described above, the sub print head device 60 is supported in a swingable manner by the reference shaft portion 71 disposed in parallel with the take-up shaft 12, and in parallel with the reference shaft portion 71. In this state, a swing arm 62 having a connecting shaft portion 72 provided on a swing end portion 62B of the arm body 62A, and a tip portion 63A rotatably connected to the connecting shaft portion 72 of the swing arm 62 A head holder arm 63 having a base end portion 63B provided with a long hole 63C through which a guide shaft portion 73 arranged in parallel with the reference shaft portion 71 is inserted, and a distal end portion 63A side of the head holder arm 63 And a print head 64 that is held and abutted against the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13. The head holder arm 63 is movable with respect to the guide shaft portion 73 along the long hole 63 </ b> C according to the swing of the swing end 62 </ b> B of the swing arm 62.

  With this configuration, when the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding shaft 12 increases, the print head 64 is moved by the ink ribbon 13, so that the swing arm is connected via the connecting shaft portion 72. The swing end 62B of 62 swings. Then, the head holder arm 63 moves with respect to the guide shaft portion 73 along the long hole 63C in accordance with the swing of the swing end portion 62B, so that the printing held by the head holder arm 63 is performed. The relative orientation of the head 64 with respect to the swing arm 62 changes. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the posture change of the print head 64 with respect to the ink ribbon 13 before and after the change of the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 while avoiding the enlargement of the swing arm 62. Therefore, the print head 64 can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13 in a suitable posture according to the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 while suppressing the size of the entire sub print head device 60.

  More specifically, in the present embodiment, the guide shaft portion 73 is disposed on the circular rotation locus T of the connection shaft portion 72 drawn by rotating the connection shaft portion 72 around the reference shaft portion 71. The connecting shaft portion 72, the reference shaft portion 71, and the guide shaft portion 73 are arranged in a straight line when the connecting shaft portion 72 is positioned at the reference position S set at one point on the circular locus T. Has been.

  As a result, the angle formed by the straight line connecting the reference position S and the connecting shaft part 72 moved from the reference position S and the straight line connecting the connecting shaft part 72 and the guide shaft part 73 is the position of the connecting shaft part 72. Regardless of this, the angle can always be 90 °. Then, the print head 64 is moved along the straight line connecting the reference position S and the connecting shaft portion 72 moved from the reference position S with the center of the winding shaft 12 of the ink ribbon 13 positioned at the reference position S. By disposing the print head 64 so as to abut against the ink ribbon 13, the print head 64 is always in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 in a state perpendicular to the tangent at the contact position between the ink ribbon 13 and the print head 64. It becomes possible to make it. Accordingly, the print head 64 can be brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13 in an optimum posture for printing regardless of the amount of winding of the ink ribbon 13, and the print quality can be kept constant.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the sub print head device 60 is connected to the reference shaft portion 71 and rotates integrally with the reference shaft portion 71, and the contact portion 64 A of the print head 64 is positioned with respect to the swing arm 62. And a drive mechanism 65 having a drive arm 81 disposed on the side opposite to the driving side and an elastic member 82 provided between the drive arm 81 and the swing arm 62.

  As a result, the drive arm 81 in the drive mechanism 65 is rotated toward the swing arm 62, and the swing arm 62 is pressed toward the ink ribbon 13 via the elastic member 82, thereby pressing the print head 64 against the ink ribbon 13. be able to.

  Further, the sub print head device 60 further includes a position detection sensor 83 that detects the amount of expansion / contraction of the elastic member 82 between the drive arm 81 and the swing arm 62, and accordingly, according to the amount of expansion / contraction of the elastic member 82. By stopping the rotation of the drive arm 81, the head pressure of the print head 64 against the ink ribbon 13 can be kept constant at a desired value.

  Further, in the transfer device 100 according to the present embodiment, the ink ribbon cassette 1 and the sub print head device 60 are disposed so as to be adjacent to each other, and the ink ribbon cassette 1 and the sub print head device 60 are disposed along the direction in which they are adjacent. When viewed, the reference shaft portion 71, the connecting shaft portion 72, and the guide shaft portion 73 in the sub print head device 60 are located within the outer shape of the ink ribbon cassette 1. Thereby, in particular, the size in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the ink ribbon cassette 1 and the sub print head device 60 are arranged is suppressed, so that the overall configuration of the transfer device 100 can be made compact, and the transfer device 100 can be combined with the same transfer device. The occupied area when arranged side by side can be extremely usefully suppressed. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the occupied area when three transfer apparatuses 100 with different colors to be printed are arranged in the horizontal direction can be suppressed, and the layout flexibility of the peripheral members can be improved.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above-described embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink ribbon cassette, 11 ... Unwinding shaft, 12 ... Winding shaft, 13 ... Ink ribbon, 20 ... Cassette case, 40 ... Main print head device, 60 ... Sub print head device, 61 ... Case, 62 ... Swing arm , 62A ... arm main body, 62B ... swinging end, 63 ... head holder arm, 63A ... distal end, 63B ... base end, 63C ... long hole, 64 ... print head, 64A ... contact portion, 65 ... drive mechanism , 71 ... Reference shaft part, 72 ... Connection shaft part, 73 ... Guide shaft part, 81 ... Drive arm, 82 ... Elastic member, 83 ... Position detection sensor, 100 ... Transfer device, T ... Circular locus, S ... Reference position

Claims (6)

A print head device that performs a printing operation on an outer peripheral surface of an ink ribbon wound around a winding shaft of an ink ribbon,
An arm body that is swingably supported by a reference shaft portion that is arranged in parallel with the winding shaft; and a connecting shaft portion that is provided at the swing end portion of the arm body in a state parallel to the reference shaft portion. A swing arm having
A distal end portion rotatably connected to the connection shaft portion of the swing arm, and a base end portion provided with a long hole through which a guide shaft portion disposed in parallel with the reference shaft portion is inserted. A head holder arm;
A print head that is held on the tip end side of the head holder arm and is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon,
The print head, wherein the head holder arm is movable with respect to the guide shaft portion along the elongated hole according to the swing of the swing end portion of the swing arm. apparatus. The guide shaft portion is disposed on a circular rotation locus of the connection shaft portion drawn by rotating the connection shaft portion around the reference shaft portion,
The connecting shaft portion, the reference shaft portion, and the guide shaft portion are arranged in a straight line when the connecting shaft portion is positioned at a reference position set at one point on the circular locus. The print head device according to claim 1.   It is connected to the reference shaft portion and rotates integrally with the reference shaft portion, and is disposed on the side opposite to the side where the contact portion of the print head with the ink ribbon is located with respect to the swing arm. The print head device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive mechanism having a drive arm and an elastic member provided between the drive arm and the swing arm.   The print head device according to claim 3, further comprising a position detection sensor that detects an expansion / contraction amount of the elastic member between the drive arm and the swing arm. An ink ribbon cassette comprising: an ink ribbon having one end fixed to the unwinding shaft and wound at the other end, and the other end fixed to the winding shaft; and a cassette case for storing the ink ribbon;
A main print head device that performs a printing operation on the ink ribbon for transferring an image onto a transfer target;
5. A transfer device comprising: the print head device according to claim 1 as a sub print head device for erasing print information by the main print head device. The ink ribbon cassette and the print head device are arranged adjacent to each other,
When the ink ribbon cassette and the print head device are viewed along an adjacent direction, the reference shaft portion, the connecting shaft portion, and the guide shaft portion of the print head device are positioned within the outer shape of the ink ribbon cassette. The transfer device according to claim 5, wherein

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