Thermal transfer printer and non-temporary storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9849690-B2
Application number	US-201615229240-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 5, 2016
Priority date	Aug 3, 2015
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, a thermal transfer printer comprises a ribbon feeding roller configured to feed an ink ribbon including an ink layer on a base film; a ribbon winding roller configured to wind the ink ribbon fed from the ribbon feeding roller; a print head configured to heat the ink ribbon from a surface provided with no ink layer to selectively transfer the ink layer to paper; and a control section configured to control to apply an appropriate tension to the ink ribbon between the ribbon feeding roller and the ribbon winding roller according to the type of the ink ribbon.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal transfer printer comprising:
a ribbon feeding roller configured to feed an ink ribbon including an ink layer on a base film;
a ribbon winding roller configured to wind the ink ribbon fed from the ribbon feeding roller;
a print head configured to heat the ink ribbon from a surface provided with no ink layer to selectively transfer the ink layer to paper and arranged in a width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper;
an input section configured to input the type of the ink ribbon;
a ribbon width sensor configured to detect a length of the width direction of an ink ribbon;
a tension controller configured to determine a tension to be applied to the ink ribbon between the ribbon feeding roller and the ribbon winding roller, according to the type of the ink ribbon by the input section; and
a controller configured to control a magnitude of the tension to be applied to the ink ribbon in association with the tension determined by the tension controller and the width information of the ink ribbon detected by the ribbon width sensor.

2. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1 , wherein
the input section configured to input a printing speed, and
the tension controller configured to determine a tension to be applied to the ink ribbon between the ribbon feeding roller and the ribbon winding roller, according to the type of the ink ribbon and the printing speed by the input section.

3. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller adjusts a winding voltage for driving a ribbon winding motor of roller and a feeding voltage for driving a ribbon feeding motor of roller.

4. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 3 , wherein
the controller corrects the winding voltage and the feeding voltage according to the width of the ink ribbon.

5. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 4 , wherein
the type of the ink ribbon are composed of a wax type, a semi-resin- 1 type and a semi-resin- 2 type.

6. A thermal transfer printing method comprising:
deciding a magnitude of a tension to be applied an ink ribbon between a ribbon feeding roller and a ribbon winding roller, according to a type of the ink ribbon by an input section, the input section being configured to input the type of the ink ribbon;
determining a tension to be applied to the ink ribbon between the ribbon feeding roller and the ribbon winding roller by a tension controller, according to the type of the ink ribbon by the input section; and
controlling a second magnitude of the tension to the ink ribbon in association with the magnitude of the tension and width information of the ink ribbon detected by a ribbon width sensor, the ribbon width sensor being configured to detect a length of the width direction of the ink ribbon.

7. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 6 , wherein
the input section configured to input a printing speed, and
the tension controller configured to determine the tension to be applied to the ink ribbon between the ribbon feeding roller and the ribbon winding roller, according to the type of the ink ribbon and the printing speed by the input section.

8. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 7 , wherein
the type of the ink ribbon are composed of a wax type, a semi-resin- 1 type and a semi-resin- 2 type.

9. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
adjusting a winding voltage for driving a ribbon winding motor of roller and a feeding voltage for driving a ribbon feeding motor of roller.

10. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
correcting the winding voltage and the feeding voltage according to the width of the ink ribbon.

Assignees

• Toshiba Tec Kk

Inventors

• Shimosato Toshiharu

Classifications

• B41J35/08

  with tensioning arrangements · CPC title

• B41J2/325 Primary

  by selective transfer of ink from ink carrier, e.g. from ink ribbon or sheet · CPC title

• B41J17/07

  electromagnetically controlled · CPC title