Thermal transfer machine for belt markings

A thermal transfer machine comprising a freely rotatable belt attachment roller onto which an endless belt can be removably attached with the surface to be imprinted facing outwardly, a freely rotatable thermal roller placed so as to be movable toward and away from said belt attachment roller, a pair of support arms placed parallel to each other across an open space so that said thermal roller is positioned between them, and a marking paper support which has securing fixtures for stretching the marking paper across the space between the support arms and which is capable of moving in a reciprocating motion in the front-to-back direction of the thermal roller. With said thermal roller pressed against the belt on said belt attachment roller by a pressing apparatus, the marking paper support is moved at the same speed as the peripheral velocity of the thermal roller in the direction of the tangent of the thermal roller occurring at the contact surface between the thermal roller and the belt by the drive apparatus which turns the thermal roller.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a machine which uses thermal transfer marking 
paper for the thermal transfer of the manufacturer's name, serial number, 
date of manufacture, belt size, and other indicia onto an endless belt or 
onto a tube-shaped belt material (hereafter also referred to simply as an 
endless belt) prior to its being cut into specified widths. 
The thermal transfer of indicia, such as those described above, onto an 
endless belt is accomplished using marking paper which has been printed so 
as to make thermal transfer possible. Because there are many different 
belt indicia, it is common to use multiple sheets of different varieties 
of marking paper. For wide belts, the thermal transfer is made onto the 
belt itself, and for narrow belts, it is made onto tube-shaped belt 
material prior to its being cut into specified widths. For this reason, in 
order to perform thermal transfer onto belt material, the size of the 
characters to be indicated must be considerably smaller than the width of 
the endless belt which will be the final product, and repeated lines of 
the same indicia must be transferred so that at least one line of the 
complete indicia is transferred onto each endless belt after cutting. 
Until now, machines having a construction such as that described below have 
been used as thermal transfer devices for the transfer of indicia such as 
those mentioned above. As shown in FIG. 6, after an endless belt A is 
positioned with the surface to be imprinted facing outwardly on a freely 
revolving belt attachment roller 2', the belt A on the belt attachment 
roller 2' is squeezed by a thermal roller 6' and compressed at a fixed 
pressure P, and then the thermal roller 6' revolves at a fixed slow speed 
in order to slowly revolve the belt A. Then, a marking paper B is inserted 
and passed through the nip formed between the contact surfaces of the 
thermal roller 6' and the belt A, and the indicia printed on the marking 
paper B is thermally transferred onto the surface of the belt. 
With the thermal transfer machines of the prior art described above, the 
operator had to manually insert the marking paper between the contact 
surfaces of the thermal roller and the belt, and, because it is common for 
multiple sheets of marking paper to be used, the operator had to remain 
close to the thermal transfer device until the completion of the thermal 
transfer operation. Thus, during that time, the operator was not able to 
perform other tasks, such as the preparation of the marking paper for 
transfer to the next belt, and work efficiency was extremely poor. 
Moreover, because the marking paper was inserted by hand while the thermal 
roller and the belt were revolving, the marking paper could easily become 
misaligned or wrinkled, thus resulting in the transfer of a slanted or 
distorted indicia onto the belt. In addition, there was also the danger of 
the operator's hand becoming caught between the thermal roller and the 
belt, creating a safety problem as well. Furthermore, because the manually 
inserted marking paper fell onto the floor after passing between the 
thermal roller and the belt, the used marking paper had to be recovered, 
and this recovery involved further labor. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In consideration of the problems described above, it is a primary objective 
of this invention to provide a thermal transfer device for belt markings 
in which, by simply positioning the endless belt and the marking paper, in 
addition to the marking paper being automatically inserted between the 
thermal roller and the belt in perfect alignment therewith and with no 
wrinkles, the marking paper is easily recovered after the thermal 
transfer, and the operator can perform other tasks away from the thermal 
transfer machine during the thermal transfer operation, thus achieving a 
high level of work efficiency. 
To achieve the foregoing, a thermal transfer machine in accordance with 
this invention is provided having a freely revolving belt attachment 
roller onto which an endless belt can be removably attached with the 
surface to be imprinted facing outwardly. A freely revolving thermal 
roller is mounted so as to be freely movable toward and away from the belt 
attachment roller, and a pair of support arms are placed parallel to each 
other across an open space so that the thermal roller is positioned 
between them. A marking paper support is provided which has securing 
fixtures for stretching the marking paper across the space between the 
support arms and which is capable of moving freely in a reciprocating 
motion in the front-to-back direction of the thermal roller. With the 
thermal roller pressed against the belt on the belt attachment roller by a 
pressing apparatus, the marking paper support is moved at the same speed 
as the peripheral velocity of the thermal roller in the direction of the 
tangent of the thermal roller occurring at the contact surface between the 
thermal roller and the belt, by a drive apparatus which turns the thermal 
roller. 
In addition, it is preferable to use an oscillating motor having a 
reciprocating rotation action within a prescribed angle for the 
aforementioned drive apparatus, and to use the oscillating motor both for 
the reciprocating revolution of the thermal roller, and also for the 
reciprocating movement of the marking paper support in synchronization 
with the revolution of the thermal roller. 
With the thermal transfer machine of this invention having the construction 
described above, the operator first attaches the endless belt onto the 
belt attachment roller with the surface to be imprinted facing outwardly, 
and then stretches the marking paper between the securing fixtures on the 
two support arms of the marking paper support. When the thermal transfer 
device is then operated, the thermal roller moves close to the belt on the 
belt attachment roller, and the marking paper support also moves close to 
the belt attachment roller together with the thermal roller. Then, when 
the thermal roller comes in contact with the belt, it is pressed against 
the belt at a fixed pressure. At this time, the marking paper support is 
positioned on the tangent occurring at the contact surface between the 
thermal roller and the belt. Next, the thermal roller is driven by the 
drive apparatus and begins to revolve in the specified direction, and the 
belt also begins to revolve together with the belt attachment roller. At 
the same time, the marking paper support moves at the same speed as the 
peripheral velocity of the thermal roller, the marking paper is inserted 
between the contact surfaces of the thermal roller and the belt and passes 
through in that same tangential direction, and the indicia on the marking 
paper is thermally transferred onto the surface of the belt to be 
imprinted. When the thermal transfer has been completed, the rotation of 
the thermal roller stops and the movement of the marking paper support 
also stops simultaneously, and then the thermal roller, together with the 
marking paper support, separates from the belt on the belt attachment 
roller. Next, the operator simply removes the belt from the belt 
attachment roller and also removes the marking paper from the marking 
paper support. Thus, once the operator has positioned the belt and the 
marking paper prior to the beginning of the thermal transfer process, it 
is then possible to leave the thermal transfer device and perform other 
work tasks. 
In addition, with the thermal transfer device described herein, after the 
indicia on the marking paper is thermally transferred onto the belt, the 
oscillating motor will revolve for the prescribed angle in the opposite 
direction, and, in addition to the thermal roller revolving back to its 
original starting position, the marking paper support will return to its 
original starting position, and then the revolution of the thermal roller 
and the movement of the marking paper support will stop. Thus, at the 
completion of the thermal transfer operation, the removal and remounting 
of the marking papers on the marking paper support is greatly facilitated 
for the start of the next thermal transfer operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a belt attachment roller 2 positioned in approximately 
the center of a support frame 1. A pair of spaced apart upright support 
stays 3 are included in the frame 1, and the roller 2 is freely rotatably 
supported between the upper ends of the stays 3. With reference to FIG. 3, 
the belt attachment roller 2 is supported so as to be freely rotatable on 
a support shaft 2a, and one end of the support shaft 2a is supported by a 
member 3b at the upper end of one of the support stays 3 such that the 
shaft 2a may be swung in a horizontal plane. In addition, the other or 
free end of the support shaft 2a is mounted so that it may be engaged and 
disengaged by a C-shaped locking member 3a which is attached to the upper 
end of the other support stay 3, thus making it possible to open the free 
end of the belt attachment roller 2 when attaching a tube-shaped belt 
material A to the belt attachment roller 2. Note that a different 
arrangement may be provided if the belt material A is constructed such 
that it can be attached to the belt attachment roller 2 by insertion above 
the roller. It is also possible, for example, to use a construction 
wherein both ends of the support shaft 2a of the belt attachment roller 2 
can be removed from the upper ends (the parts 3a and 3b) of the support 
stays 3. 
A pneumatic cylinder 4 for use as the pressure application mechanism is 
mounted facing downwardly at the center of the top of the support frame 1, 
and the cylinder rod 4a is able to extend and retract downwardly through 
the frame 1. A support yoke 5 which opens downwardly is suspended from the 
lower end of the cylinder rod 4a. The support shaft 6a of a thermal roller 
6 is mounted so as to be freely rotatable via bearings 6b between the 
shaft and the lower ends of the support yoke 5, and the thermal roller 6 
is constructed so that it is parallel to and faces the belt attachment 
roller 2 and is raised and lowered by the pneumatic cylinder 4. Inside the 
thermal roller 6, multiple rod-shaped electric heaters 6c are installed 
along the outer surface of the roller 6 at uniform intervals, and the 
temperature can be regulated preferably within a range of 100.degree. to 
250.degree. C. 
An auxiliary yoke 5a extends downwardly from the lower ends of the support 
yoke 5, and a pair of guide rails 7 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) are individually 
mounted to this auxiliary yoke 5a in the front-to-back direction on each 
side of the lower part of the thermal roller 6 so as to be parallel to 
each other. 
As shown in FIG. 4, a frame-shaped marking paper support 8 open to the 
front is mounted on the guide rails 7 so as to be freely movable in the 
forward and backward directions. This marking paper support 8 is provided 
with a pair of support arms 9 extending along the guide rails 7 and, 
parallel to these support arms 9, a rack arm 10 on the upper surface of 
which is formed a rack 10a. In addition, multiple (three in this 
embodiment) marking paper securing fixtures 11 are mounted onto each of 
the support arms 9 in the lengthwise direction with a space between each 
fixture. For these securing fixtures 11, it is possible to use pin-like 
fixtures such as those shown in FIG. 4, onto which holes cut in the 
marking paper B are fit, or clip-like fixtures such as those shown in FIG. 
5, into which the marking paper B is inserted, as long as they are of such 
a construction as to allow the marking paper B to be stretched between the 
support arms 9 and secured so as to be freely attachable and detachable. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the same hydraulic oscillating motor 12 is used for 
both the rotation of the thermal roller 6 and the movement (feed) of the 
marking paper support 8. Because this motor 12 moves in a reciprocating 
rotation back and forth within a prescribed angle (for example, 
120.degree.), there is no need to use limit switches or other control 
means to determine the rotational range for the reciprocating rotation of 
the motor. The oscillating motor 12 is mounted to the upper part of one 
side of the support yoke 5 via a support fixture 5b. In addition, the 
drive shaft 12a of the oscillating motor 12 and the support shaft 6a of 
the thermal roller 6 are connected via a speed-reducing gear 13, so that 
oscillating motor 12 drives the thermal roller 6 in reciprocating 
revolutions. Furthermore, a pinion 14 is mounted on one end of the support 
shaft 6a so as to be able to revolve as one unit, and this pinion 14 is 
meshed with the rack 10a. Thus, when the thermal roller 6 revolves, that 
revolution is converted into linear motion by the pinion 14 and the rack 
10a so that the marking paper support 8 simultaneously moves along the 
guide rails 7. In addition, in order for the speed of travel of the 
marking paper support 8 to be equivalent to the peripheral velocity of the 
thermal roller 6, although in this embodiment the same dimensions are 
selected for the diameter of the pinion 14 and the diameter of the thermal 
roller 6, it is also possible to install a speed-increasing gear (not 
shown in the drawings) between the support shaft 6a and the pinion 14 and 
use a smaller diameter for the pinion 14 than that shown in the drawing. 
The following is an explanation of the operation of the thermal transfer 
device according to the embodiment described above. 
In FIG. 1, at the start of work, the thermal roller 6 and the marking paper 
support 8 are positioned slightly above the belt attachment roller 2 by 
retracting the rod 4a. The operator swings open one end of the support 
shaft 2a of the belt attachment roller 2 from the part 3a, places the 
tube-shaped belt material A onto the belt attachment roller 2 from the 
open end with the surface to be imprinted facing outwardly, as shown in 
FIG. 3, and then swings the end of the support shaft 2a of the belt 
attachment roller 2 closed and secures it in the locking member 3a. In 
addition, the operator also stretches multiple sheets of marking paper B 
between the securing fixtures 11 on the two support arms 9 of the marking 
paper support 8, as shown in FIGS. 4 or 5. 
When the operator then operates the thermal transfer device, the remainder 
of the thermal transfer process is performed automatically in the 
following manner. 
The cylinder rod 4a of the pneumatic cylinder 4 extends downwardly and the 
thermal roller 6 descends and moves close to the belt material A on the 
belt attachment roller 2, and, simultaneously, the marking paper support 8 
also descends and moves close to the thermal roller 6. Then, when the 
thermal roller 6 comes in contact with the belt material A, a fixed 
pressure is applied to the belt material A by the pneumatic cylinder 4, 
and that pressure is maintained. In addition, in this state, the marking 
paper support 8 is positioned on the tangent occurring at the contact 
surface of the belt material A and the thermal roller 6. Next, the 
oscillating motor 12 begins to rotate, the thermal roller 6 begins to 
revolve in the clockwise direction as indicated in FIG. 2, and the belt 
material A on the belt attachment roller 2 also revolves together with the 
roller 2. Simultaneously, the pinion 14 revolves in accompaniment to the 
revolution of the thermal roller 6, and the marking paper support 8 is 
moved via the rack 10a forward (to the left in FIG. 2) on the guide rails 
7 at the same speed as the peripheral velocity of the thermal roller 6. In 
this way, the multiple sheets of marking paper B mounted on the marking 
paper support 8 are inserted one after another between the contact surface 
of the thermal roller 6 and the belt material A, and they pass through in 
that tangential direction. Then, as the multiple sheets B of marking paper 
pass between the thermal roller 6 and the belt material A, heat and 
pressure are applied by the thermal roller 6, and the indicia on the 
marking papers are thermally transferred one after another onto the belt 
material A. Then, when all of the indicia on the marking papers have been 
thermally transferred onto the belt material A, the oscillating motor 12 
stops rotating, and the revolution of the thermal roller 6 and the 
movement of the marking paper support 8 stop. At approximately the same 
time, the cylinder rod 4a of the pneumatic cylinder 4 retracts upwardly, 
and the thermal roller 6 rises upwardly together with the marking paper 
support 8, thereby separating from the belt material A from the belt 
attachment roller 2. Next, the oscillating motor 12 begins to rotate in 
the reverse direction, the thermal roller 6 revolves in the reverse 
direction back to its original revolution starting position, and the 
marking paper support 8 also moves backward to return to its original 
operation starting position. In this state, the oscillating motor 12 
stops, the rotation of the thermal roller 6 and the movement of the 
marking paper support 8 stop, and one cycle of the thermal transfer 
process is complete. 
Thus, when the thermal transfer process described above is completed, in 
the reverse of the procedure described above, the operator simply removes 
the belt material A from the belt attachment roller 2 and removes the 
marking paper B from the marking paper support 8. Note that the belt 
material A, imprinted by thermal transfer, can now be cut to specified 
widths to process it into finished product endless belts (not shown in the 
drawings). In addition, wide belts, pre-cut belts (not shown in the 
drawings) can also be imprinted by thermal transfer. 
Although in the embodiment described above an oscillating motor 12 is used 
to effect the rotation of the thermal roller 6 and the movement of the 
marking paper support 8 so that both the roller 6 and the support 8 
revolve or move in a reciprocating action in synchronization each time the 
thermal transfer process is performed, it is also possible to have the 
thermal roller 6 and the marking paper support 8 revolve or move in one 
direction in the first work operation and then revolve or move back to 
their original positions in the second work operation. In addition, 
instead of the oscillating motor 12, it is also possible to use an 
electric motor capable of reciprocating rotation and then regulate the 
reciprocating rotation by means of limit switches. Furthermore, it is also 
possible for both the thermal roller 6 and the marking paper support 8 to 
move toward and away from the belt attachment roller 2 in a horizontal or 
diagonal direction. 
As explained above, the thermal transfer device of this invention has the 
following advantages. 
(1) Because the operator simply has to position the endless belt and the 
marking paper in order for the marking paper to be automatically inserted 
between the thermal roller and the belt so that the markings are thermally 
transferred onto the belt, the operator can in the meantime perform other 
tasks away from the thermal transfer device, thus achieving a high level 
of work efficiency. Moreover, because the indicia from multiple sheets of 
marking paper can be thermally transferred in perfect alignment and with 
no wrinkles simply by placing the marking papers between the securing 
fixtures of the marking paper support, the operation is simple and 
requires no special skills, and also, because there is no longer any 
danger of the operator's hand becoming caught between the thermal roller 
and the belt, the work can be performed with a high level of safety. 
Furthermore, the marking paper is easily recovered after the thermal 
transfer. 
(2) With the thermal transfer device described herein, because an 
oscillating motor with a reciprocating rotation action within a prescribed 
angle is used for reciprocating drive of the thermal roller and the 
marking paper support, the marking paper support returns to its original 
position after completion of the thermal transfer operation, thus 
facilitating the removal and remounting of the marking papers on the 
marking paper support for the start of the next thermal transfer 
operation; it also eliminates the need for limit switches or other control 
means, resulting in a simple overall construction for the device and a 
reduction in production costs.