1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal head for use in a thermal-transfer printer in which printing is performed by transferring ink of an ink film onto a paper sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a known thermal-transfer printer has a structure in which printing is performed by heating heating elements of a thermal head so as to transfer ink applied on the upper surface of an ink film such as an ink ribbon or an ink sheet onto a sheet of paper (hereinafter, simply referred to as a paper sheet. The thermal-transfer printer having such a structure is in heavy use as an output device of a computer, a facsimile machine, a word-processor, a digital still camera, and the like, thanks to its high recording quality, low-noise, low cost, easy maintenance, and so forth.
The structure of the known thermal head will be described with reference to
As shown in
Also, the heating element 104a, the common and individual electrodes 105 and 106 have a protecting layer (not shown) deposited on the surfaces thereof so as to be prevented from oxidization and wear.
Further, the substrate 102 has a driver IC 107 disposed closed to the other end 102b thereof, connecting to the common and individual electrodes 105 and 106 and sealed with a sealing member 108. Also, the substrate 102 has a terminal section 109 extending from the other end 102b thereof, composed of an FPC (flexible circuit board) or the like.
In the known thermal-transfer printer, a member for eliminating slackness of the ink film 111 so as to prevent the ink film 111 from creasing at the abutment section is disposed in the transport route of the ink film 111.
In the known thermal-transfer printer, as the members for eliminating slackness, rollers 113 and 114 are disposed upstream with respect to the transport route of the ink film 111 (close to a virgin portion of the ink film 111) so as to provide a tension to the ink film 111 (see
Alternatively, as shown in
Unfortunately, in the above-described known thermal-transfer printer, even when creases of the ink film 111 are removed once with the members 112, 113, and 114 disposed for eliminating slackness of the ink film 111, there is a risk that the ink film 111 experiences slackness again before being transported to the abutment section between the heating element 104a of the thermal head 101 and the platen 110 and resultantly creases.
This risk is unavoidable since the foregoing members 112, 113, and 114 are disposed independently from the thermal head 101. That is, the rollers 112 and 113 shown in
In addition, in order to increase the number of thermals heads 101 formed on a single of the substrate 102, an attempt has been made in recent years such that the thermal head 101 has a reduced size, especially a reduced length (the length from the end 102a to the end 102b of the substrate 102 shown in
While smoothly entering the abutment section as long as the thermal head 101 has a small abutment angle, the ink film 111 is apt to be lodged when the thermal head 101 has a large abutment angle.
Furthermore, although the thermal head 101 comes into contact with the ink film 111 and irons out its creases upstream of the abutment position when the thermal head 101 has a small abutment angle, when the thermal head 101 has a large abutment angle, a contact area formed between the thermal head 101 and the ink film 111 becomes smaller upstream of the abutment position, whereby creases of the ink film 111 become more strongly influential to printing quality, thus resulting in deteriorated printing quality.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal head reducing creases of an ink film and resultantly offering excellent printing quality when used in a thermal-transfer printer.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a thermal head according the present invention, having a structure in which a heating element formed on a first projection is heated between itself and a platen with which the heating element comes into contact through a recording medium and an ink film, so as to transfer ink of the ink film onto the recording medium, includes a driver IC connected to electrodes extending from the heating element; a sealing member sealing the driver IC; and a second projection protruding upstream, with respect to the transport route of the ink film, of the center of a section where the heating element comes into contact with the platen, so as to lie beyond a line connecting the apexes of the first projection and the sealing member.
Also, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a thermal head according the present invention, having a structure in which a heating element formed on a first projection is heated between itself and a platen with which the heating element comes into contact through a recording medium and an ink film, so as to transfer ink of the ink film onto the recording, medium, includes a second projection lying upstream, with respect to the transport route of the ink film, of the center of a section where the heating element comes into contact with the platen; and a non-contact section, lying from the section where the heating element of the first projection comes into contact with the platen to the second projection, so as to prohibit contact with the ink film therein.
In the thermal head according the present invention, the second projection may include a guide in contact with the transport route of the ink film.
Further, in the thermal head according the present invention, the guide may extend along the transport route of the ink film by a length of at least 50 μm.
Furthermore, in the thermal head according the present invention, the guide may extend upstream of the center of the section where the heating element comes into contact with the platen, starting at a position away from the center by a distance of 200 to 500 μm.
FIGS. 5(A) and (B) are general sectional views of known the thermal head, illustrating its printing operation.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
As shown in
As shown in
The first projection 1a has the heating element 4a formed on the upper surface thereof, and, as shown in
The first projection 1a is appropriately designed so as to have a shape suitable for coming into contact with the platen 20, taking account of an abutment angle, an abutment position and so forth of the thermal head 1 with respect to the platen 20. For example, the first projection 1a is formed so as to have a sectional shape having a curved surface with a radius of curvature of 1.5 to 4 mm. The heating element 4a is formed by patterning a heating resistor 4, with a photolithography or the like, obtained by depositing a film on the upper surface of the first projection 1a, for example, by sputtering Ta—N, Ta—SiO2, or the like. Also, the common and individual electrodes 5 and 6 are formed by sputtering Al, Cu, Au or the like and depositing and patterning it by photolithography or the like. In general, the common and individual electrodes 5 and 6 are respectively formed close to the one end 2a and the other end 2b of the substrate 2.
As shown in
The driver IC 7 is disposed close to the other end 2b of the substrate 2 and connected to the common and individual electrodes 5 and 6 extending from the heating element 4a. The driver IC 7 controls, for example, the voltage of an energizing pulse to be supplied to each heating element 4a and controls the heat value of the heating element 4a. The driver IC 7 is sealed by the sealing member 8 for protection from external factors such as mechanical and thermal stresses, moisture, and so forth.
As the arrangement of the driver IC 7 and the sealing member 8, as shown in
The second projection 1b of the thermal head 1 is disposed upstream, with respect to the transport route of the ink film 21, of the abutment position 1d where the heating element 4a and the platen 20 come into contact with each other, (in
Although the second projection 1b may be formed by independently depositing an additional projection layer 9 on the individual electrode 6 and so forth as shown in
When the second projection 1b protrudes beyond a line 10 (indicated by a dotted line in
Also, when the second projection 1b is disposed close to the abutment position 1d, the heating element 4a is not sufficiently heated, and its function of transferring ink of the ink film 21 is consequently inhibited. Hence, the thermal head 1 preferably has a non-contact section 31 lying from the abutment section 1c of the first projection 1a to the second projection 1b so as to prohibit contact with the ink film 21 therein.
Further, the second projection 1b preferably includes a guide 9a in contact with the transport route of the ink film 21. The guide 9a contacts the ink film 21 upstream with respect to the transport route of the ink film 21 and irons out creases of the ink film 21. Since the guide 9a for eliminating slackness of the ink film 21 is disposed in the thermal head 1 itself as described above, creases of the ink film 21 are ironed out at a position very closed to the abutment section Ic, thereby reducing a risk that slackness of the ink film 21 causing creases is generated again up to the abutment section 1c.
The guide 9a preferably extends along the transport route of the ink film 21 by a length of at least 50 μm (a distance L1 shown in
Also, the guide 9a preferably extends upstream with respect to the transport route of the ink film 21, starting at a position away from the abutment position 1d by a distance of 200 to 500 μm (a distance L2 shown in
Although the guide 9a has a flat surface in FIGS. 1 to 3, it may have a curved surface, with its cross-section having a curved shape extending along the transport route of the ink film 21.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2004-017080 | Jan 2004 | JP | national |