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EP0315488A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Thermal imprint recording apparatus

Assignee: Victor Company of Japan Ltd
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Filing: 1988-11-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-11-04
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Abstract

Abstract A thermal imprint recording apparatus is loaded with a cartridge (30) of recording paper (55) on which a roll (35) of ink film (36) for supplying the ink film and another roll (34) on which the ink film is taken up are carried. The apparatus comprises an arm (96a, 96b) adapted to engage with one of the rolls when the cartridge is loaded on the apparatus, and responsive to the loading, the arm is swung upwards and the roll is lifted from the cartridge. The roll is then carried over a platen roller (93) of the printer and the ink film is drawn out so as to engage with the upper surface of the platen roller. Further, the paper is taken out from the bottom of the cartridge and is transported along a path passing below the platen roller to a predetermined printing station located between the platen roller and the ink film. As a result, the path for feeding the paper on the platen roller becomes short and the circuitous path for supplying the of paper to the platen roller around the rolls of ink film and a thermal head is eliminated and thus the apparatus can be constructed compactly.

Inventors

  • 👤 Itsuo Takanashi
  • 👤 Hideshi Tanaka
  • 👤 Shigeru Kato
  • 👤 Naomi Osada
  • 👤 Toshikatsu Ichito

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 15:48
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H1/00; B41; B41J; B41J11/00; B41J11/58; B41J17/00; B41J17/32; B65H1/04; B65H1/06

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 410 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus adapted to be mounted with a paper cartridge accommodating a paper, for recording an image on a paper fed from a first side of the paper cartridge by a thermal head via an ink film supplied from a first roll of ink film held on the paper cartridge after the ink film is drawn out through a second side of the cartridge opposite to said first side, said cartridge carrying a second roll of the ink film on which the ink film is taken up adjacent to the first roll, characterized by a platen roller (93) on which the paper is fed from the paper cartridge, thermal head means (143) including the thermal head disposed so as to be pressed on a surface of the platen roller, an insertion opening (81) formed on a front panel of the apparatus for accepting the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted into the apparatus, a discharge opening (85) provided on the front panel of the apparatus for discharging the paper aftet the image is recorded by the thermal head means, a cartridge accommodating space (83) defined in the apparatus for accepting the paper cartridge when the paper cartridge is inserted into the apparatus, ink film loading means comprising an arm (96a, 96b) driven by a driving means (99) and movable between a first state for engaging with one of said first and second ink film rolls held on the paper cartridge and a second state for drawing out the ink film from the other of the ink film rolls held on the paper cartridge so as to draw out the ink film and load the ink film at a predetermined position between the platen roller and the thermal head means, paper feed means (171, 175) disposed in the cartridge accommodating space so as to be located at a side of the paper cartridge opposite from the side from which the ink film is drawn out when the paper cartridge is inserted into the apparatus for feeding a sheet of paper in the paper cartridge one by one, and discharge means (175, 181, 183, 184) disposed on a same side as the paper feed means relative to the paper cartridge in the cartridge accommodating space in a state generally parallel to the paper cartridge when the paper cartridge is inserted in the apparatus, for transporting the paper subjected to the recording from the platen roller to said discharge opening.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 410 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus adapted to be mounted with a paper cartridge accommodating a paper, for recording an image on a paper fed from a first side of the paper cartridge by a thermal head via an ink film supplied from a first roll of ink film held on the paper cartridge after the ink film is drawn out through a second side of the cartridge opposite to said first side, said cartridge carrying a second roll of the ink film on which the ink film is taken up adjacent to the first roll, characterized by a platen roller (93) on which the paper is fed from the paper cartridge, thermal head means (143) including the thermal head disposed so as to be pressed on a surface of the platen roller, an insertion opening (81) formed on a front panel of the apparatus for accepting the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted into the apparatus, a discharge opening (85) provided on the front panel of the apparatus for discharging the paper aftet the image is recorded by the thermal head means, a cartridge accommodating space (83) defined in the apparatus for accepting the paper cartridge when the paper cartridge is inserted into the apparatus, ink film loading means comprising an arm (96a, 96b) driven by a driving means (99) and movable between a first state for engaging with one of said first and second ink film rolls held on the paper cartridge and a second state for drawing out the ink film from the other of the ink film rolls held on the paper cartridge so as to draw out the ink film and load the ink film at a predetermined position between the platen roller and the thermal head means, paper feed means (171, 175) disposed in the cartridge accommodating space so as to be located at a side of the paper cartridge opposite from the side from which the ink film is drawn out when the paper cartridge is inserted into the apparatus for feeding a sheet of paper in the paper cartridge one by one, and discharge means (175, 181, 183, 184) disposed on a same side as the paper feed means relative to the paper cartridge in the cartridge accommodating space in a state generally parallel to the paper cartridge when the paper cartridge is inserted in the apparatus, for transporting the paper subjected to the recording from the platen roller to said discharge opening.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 101 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said ink film loading means (96a, 96b, 99) is disposed above the paper paper cartridge in the cartridge accommodating space when the paper cartridge is inserted into the apparatus and draws out the ink film from the upper side of the paper cartridge responsive to the movement of the arm (96a, 96b), and said paper feed means is located below the paper cartridge in the cartridge accommodating space when the paper cartridge is inserted into the apparatus and feeds the paper from the lower side of the cartridge.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 32 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that said discharge means comprises a discharge roller (181) and is disposed further below the paper feed means (171, 175).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 112 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that said paper feed means comprises a feed roller (175) disposed between the paper in the cartridge and the discharge roller (181) and is driven in a direction so as to feed the paper from the paper cartridge to the platen roller (93), and a feed roller moving means (186) for moving the feed roller upwards and downwards so that the feed roller is urged on the paper in the paper cartridge when feeding the paper to the platen roller and so that the feed roller is urged on said discharge roller when discharging the paper from the platen roller.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 36 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said loading means loads the ink film so that the face of the ink film carrying the ink faces the platen roller (93).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 59 words
A thermal imprint recording apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the thermal imprint recording apparatus further comprises detection means (SW1) for detecting that the paper cartridge is fully inserted into the cartridge accommodating space (83), and said detection means produces an output signal responsive to which the operation of the ink film loading means is triggered.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 206 words
A thermal imprint recording system for recording an image on a paper (55) comprising cartridge means (30) having a paper accommodating part (33) for accommodating the paper as a stack of paper and an ink roll holding part (32) provided unitarily to the paper accommodating part for holding a pair of rolls (34, 35) of an ink film (36), and a printer apparatus (80) having a platen roller (93) on which the paper is fed, a thermal head (143) disposed adjacent to the platen roller so as to be pressed on the platen roller and so as to be moved away from the platen roller and loading means (96a, 96b) for removing one of the rolls from the ink roll holding part, characterized in that the loading means (96a, 96b) loads the ink film (36) on the platen roller (93) at a predetermined position between the the platen roller and the thermal head (143) by transporting said one of the rolls across the platen roller responsive to the loading of the cartridge means (30) on the printer apparatus (80), and that the loading means returns said roll to the ink roll holding part (32) responsive to the unloading of the cartridge means from the printer apparatus.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 206 words
A thermal imprint recording system for recording an image on a paper (55) comprising cartridge means (30) having a paper accommodating part (33) for accommodating the paper as a stack of paper and an ink roll holding part (32) provided unitarily to the paper accommodating part for holding a pair of rolls (34, 35) of an ink film (36), and a printer apparatus (80) having a platen roller (93) on which the paper is fed, a thermal head (143) disposed adjacent to the platen roller so as to be pressed on the platen roller and so as to be moved away from the platen roller and loading means (96a, 96b) for removing one of the rolls from the ink roll holding part, characterized in that the loading means (96a, 96b) loads the ink film (36) on the platen roller (93) at a predetermined position between the the platen roller and the thermal head (143) by transporting said one of the rolls across the platen roller responsive to the loading of the cartridge means (30) on the printer apparatus (80), and that the loading means returns said roll to the ink roll holding part (32) responsive to the unloading of the cartridge means from the printer apparatus.

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