THERMAL PRINTING

Abstract: A franking machine with a thermal print head (27) incorporates a cassette (24) having a supply spool (28) and a take-up spool (30) between which is wound a ribbon (29) of thermally activable dye. An unwinding force is applied to the ribbon (29), and the take-up spool (30) is driven from the supply spool (28) through a slipping drive such as an elastic, slipping, endless band (32). The slipping drive tends to drive the take-up spool (30) at a speed high enough to maintain ribbon tension. The force applied to the ribbon (29) is produced by relative movement of the thermal head (27) and the article to be printed, with the heated ribbon (29) temporarily adhering to the article.

Description: Field of invention This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for printing using a thermal print head. Background to the invention Cassettes containing a spool of ribbon in which during use, the ribbon is transferred to another spool, are known. They are employed in tape recoders, typewriters, printers and so on to carry items such as magnetic tape or inked ribbon. These cassettes usually have features, such as sprocketed holes in the centre of one or both of the spools, which allow the apparatus on which the cassette is to be used, to transmit a driving force to the cassette which will wind the used ribbon onto the take-up spool. The mechanisms used in such arrangements are complex and a motor or other prime mover is required to power the drive mechanism. This prime mover may be synchronised with the take-up spool speed requirements or, as is more often the case, a slipping clutch is used to automatically control the speed of take-up. In addition, the cassette must he designed so that the drive mechanism will readily engage the cassette. This is usually simplified by allowing the spools to 'float' within the cassette. The spools can then align themselves with the drive mechanism as the cassette is inserted. A still more complex arrangement is necessary if the cassette is to be inserted into the apparatus in a direction other than parallel to the axes of rotation of the spools. It may then be necessary to use an arrangement in which the drive mechanism is moved into engagement with the cassette spools after the cassette has been fully inserted. From EP-A-0 009 595 an electrothermal printer is known, said printer being capable of moving a ribbon between two spools through frictional contact between the ribbon and the paper to be printed. The invention According to the invention, there is provided a method of printing using a thermal print head and a ribbon of thermally activatable dye, comprising the steps of producing relative movement between the print head on the one hand and the article to be printed and the ribbon on the other hand, wherein adhesion between the article and the ribbon is created by local heating of the ribbon and is used to effect drive of the ribbon past the print head from a supply spool to a take-up spool. The spools may be located in a cassette. The invention thus enables a cassette to be used, and obviates the need for an external drive to the take-up spool. Instead the ribbon is pulled from the supply spool and the motion thus generated in the supply spool may be transmitted via a slipping drive arrangement to the take-up spool. The thermally activatable dye is carried on the ribbon and after thermal activation, this dye has been found to provide an adhesive force between the ribbon and the printed item which is sufficient to case the ribbon to be unwound from the supply spool when drive is provided only to the printed item. Thus no drive force at all need be provided directly to the ribbon or cassette, only to the item that is being printed. An additional advantage of the method of the invention when used with thermal transfer printing apparatus is that it allows lateral movement of the cassette during insertion. Such a feature is used to advantage in two areas: (a) to reduce the chances of the ribbon snagging on the print head and (b) to allow the ribbon inside the cassette to engage with a drive to a sensor for detecting the motion of the ribbon (and therefor the article being printed). Description of the drawings A method of printing according to the invention, using a cassette for dye impregnated ribbon in a postal franking machine, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the franking machine in which the cassette can be used; Figure 2 is a front elevation with front plate partly cut away to show an inserted cassette and component parts associated therewith; Figure 3 is an underside view of the inside of the machine with certain parts removed for clarity; Figure 4 illustrates to an enlarged scale part of the main cam shaft and two microswitches associated therewith; Figure 5 is a view of the exit end of the machine with parts removed to reveal internal functional details; Figure 6 is a cut away perspective view from one end of a cassette; Figure 7 is a view of the opposite end of the cassette; Figure 8 is a cross-section through the cassette of Figure 6 showing the non-return mechanism; Figure 9 is a similar cross-section through the cassette showing the take-up spool mounting assembly; Figure 10 shows the inserted cassette and immediately adjacent cooperating component parts of the machine; Figure 11 is a rear view of the lower part of the machine with covers removed, showing the eject wheel drive; and Figure 12 is a scrap perspective view showing the envelope stop and release mechanism. The improved cassette (shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8) will be described in relation to its use in a postal franking machine (shown in the remaining views of the drawings) although it is to be understood that this application is merely one example of the many applications for the invention. General description of the franking machine The franking machine is shown pictorially in Figure 1 and includes a keyboard 10 for data entry and LED display devices 12 and 14 for displaying information which is to be printed during the franking operations. A printing ribbon cassette is received in a compartment 16 which has a door 18 which is openable to allow a cassette to be inserted so that the ribbon underlies a thermal printing head located within the machine is located (see item 27 in Figure 2) and which extends into the housing 16 to cooperate with the ribbon housed within the cassette (as will hereinafter be described), in order to print information on to an envelope or like article which is inserted in the direction of the arrow 20, beneath the cassette compartment. The franked envelope emerges from the other side of the compartment as indicated by the arrow 22. The expression inked ribbon is intended to cover any dye coated or impregnated ribbon or tape, which dye can be deposited onto sheet material in contact therewith. The printing head forms no part of the present invention but will be described in general so as to provide a more complete understanding of the overall operation of the machine. Typically the printer is made up of one or more rows of points which can be individually electrically heated and which are selectively activated in timed relationship to the transport of the envelope relative to the printer. The heated points are commonly referred to as "thermal points". By sandwiching a dye coated or impregnated ribbon between the thermal points and an envelope, so printing onto the envelope can be achieved by selectively activating the thermal points so as to locally heat the ribbon and cause dye to be transferred at the heated point from the ribbon to the envelope surface. Where the ribbon is coated or impregnated with thermally activatable dye and the printer is a thermal printer, it has been found that under sufficient pressure, the thermal printing step can produce sufficient adhesion between the ribbon and the envelope, to allow the movement of the latter to effect ribbon feed. This automatically ensures the required synchronism between envelope movement and ribbon movement. The ribbon is automatically peeled away from the envelope surface by causing the paths of the envelope and the ribbon to diverge. Description of the casette Referring now to Figures 2 and 5 to 10, the cassette (best seen in Figure 6) comprises an outer casing 24 shaped to allow it to be fitted into the housing 16 in the direction of the arrow 26 of Figure 6. After initial horizontal movement into the compartment in the housing 16, a latch mechanism (to be described later) operates so as to lift the cassette into an elevated position as can best be seen in Figure 2, where the cassette is shown in its operating position within the housing. The lower section of the cassette carriage 24 is cut away at 25 to allow the casing to fit over the printing head 27 with the inked ribbon 29 of the cassette extending below the head. The cassette 24 includes a delivery spool 28 and a take-up spool 30. An endless belt 32 preferably of elastic material couples the two spools by passing around a peripheral groove 34 at one end of the take-up spool 30 (see Figure 9) and around a similar groove in a pulley 36 mounted at the similar end of the take-up spool 28 and connected thereto by a one way clutch as will hereinafter be described. The diameter of the pulley 36 is considerably greater than that of the spool 30 and the transmission ratio between the pulley 36 and spool 30 is selected so as to be greater than the transmission ratio between the roll of ribbon on the supply spool to that on the take-up spool, even when the former is full and the latter is empty. Consequently the belt 32 will always attempt to drive the take-up spool 30 at a speed in excess of that required to simply wind on the ribbon (which is being pulled off the supply spool) and in this way the ribbon is tensioned between the two spools. Where a non re-usable ribbon is employed, it is important that if the ribbon should become slack for any reason, the slack ribbon cannot be accidently rewound onto the supply spool 28. To this end the supply spool 28 is provided with a one way clutch to prevent accidental reverse rotation. This device is shown in Figure 8 and comprises a coil spring 38 wound tightly around an axle 40 on which the supply spool 28 is fixed. The spring includes a tail 42 which engages in an aperture (not visible) formed in the cooperating end face of the pulley 36. The pulley 36 is otherwise freely rotatable about the axle 40 relative to the spool 28. Drive between the pulley 36 and the spool 28 is transmitted via the spring and tail when the pulley is rotated in one direction but the tightness of the spring on the axle is such that slipping will occur when the pulley is rotated in the opposite sense. It has been found that the same arrangement can also be used in which the spring slips relative to the axle in both directions of rotation, but to a much smaller extent in the winding direction than is the opposite direction. Under normal circumstances ribbon drive is effected as previously mentioned by frictional contact and adhesion between the ribbon and the article to be printed. However, a knob 44 is mounted on an axial extension 46 of the axle 48 of the take-up spool 30 (see Figures 6 and 9) and manual movement of the ribbon is effected by rotating the knob 44 in an anti-clockwise manner so as to draw ribbon from the spool 28 onto the spool 30. Due to the presence of the belt 32, the supply spool 28 will also be rotated but at a lower speed than the take-up spool 30 so as to maintain tension. If the ribbon web 29 becomes slack, the one way clutch connection between spool 28 and pulley 36 prevents spent ribbon from being rewound onto the delivery spool 28. Thus if knob 44 is accidentally rotated in a clockwise manner, the lost motion connection will cause the slack loop to increase as ribbon is unwound from spool 30 and is not taken up by the delivery spool. The intention is that the user will discover that the slack is not being taken up but is in fact increasing before positive drive is effected between the pulley 36 and the spool 28, whereupon it is anticipated that the operator will rotate the knob 44 in the opposite sense (ie anti-clockwise) which will immediately result in the slack being taken up on the take-up spool 30. A fuller understanding of the operation of the cassette will be obtained by considering how it cooperates with the passage of an envelope through the franking machine shown in Figures 1 and 2. Further description of operation of franking machine The envelope path includes a pressure roller 52 mounted between two L-shaped members 54 and 56 forming a sub-assembly (see Figures 2 and 12). A shaft 58 extends rigidly between the lower ends of the two members 54 and 56 and a cam follower is situated along the length thereof (see Figure 12). The assembly of the members 54 and 56 is pivotal about an axle 62 (see Figure 12) to allow the roller 52 to be raised and lowered relative to the envelope path under the action of a cam 64 mounted on a cam shaft 66. Shaft 66 is driven by a motor 68 acting through a worm gear 70 and worm wheel 72 (see Figures 3 and 11). Initially the roller 52 is in the lowered position shown in Figure 2, but upon operation of motor 68 cam 64 is rotated so as to allow the sub-assembly formed by the members 54 and 56 to rotate in an anti-clockwise manner (as shown in Figure 2) under the action of two springs 74 and 76 (see Figure 12). Only one of these springs (spring 74) is visible in Figure 2 and for clarity the springs have been omitted from the underside view in Figure 3. However, referring to Figure 3, the springs in question extend between the holes 78 and 80 in the inturned lower ends of the carriers 54 and 56 and a rigid rod 82 which extends between two side plates 84 and 86 (see Figure 3). To assist in reconciling the Figures, plate 86 can be seen in Figure 2 due to the fact that plate 84 has been cut away in Figure 2. In operation, an envelope shown at 88 in Figure 12 is introduced below the cassette housing 16 until its leading edge touches the upper end of a lever 90 which constitutes an envelope sensor. The latter is pivoted about an axle 92 and is normally held in a vertical position against a stop (not shown) by a spring 94. The lever includes an actuating lug 96 which under the action of the spring 94 is held against the operating member of a microswitch 98 so as to hold the latter in an OPEN condition. This is changed into a CLOSED condition as the upper end of lever 90 is moved in the direction of the arrow 100 in Figure 12. The upper end of lever 90 includes a lateral flange 102 which upon intial movement under the influence of the leading edge of the envelope engages the upper end 104 of a Z-shaped member 106 pivoted on the axle 62 and normally held in the position shown in Figure 12 by a spring 106 and a cam 108 also carried by the cam shaft 66. Rotation of the cam shaft 66 will cause cam 108 to move relative to the lower arm of the Z-shaped member 106 and will cause the latter to move against the spring 106 and thereby lower the upper end 104 relative to the flange 102. Until end 104 drops below the lower edge of the flange 102, the envelope is prevented from passing further through the machine but as soon as the upper end of lever 104 drops below the flange 102 , the lever 90 can continue to move in the direction of arrow 100, pivoting about the axle 92 against the action of return spring 94, and permitting onward movement of the envelope in the direction of arrow 100. The speed of rotation of the shaft 66 and the position and shape of the cams 64 and 108 are selected so as to ensure that the upper end of the lever 90 inhibits the movement of the envelope in the direction of arrow 100 until the roller 52 has just been raised into its operating position under the action of the springs 74 and 76. The roller 52 serves two purposes: a) to provide a firm but resilient pad as a backing for the envelope or other item during printing and b) to provide the necessary drive for moving the envelope or other article through the franking machine at least during the printing operation. To this end the roller 52 is mounted on shaft 110 which is driven by a second motor 112 via a complex gear train which can best be seen by comparing Figures 2, 3 and 11. The output shaft of the motor carries a worm gear 114 which meshes with worm gear 116. A smaller diameter toothed wheel 118 linked to the worm wheel 116 by a sleeve 120 (see Figure 3) drives a gear wheel 122 mounted on a shaft 124 which extends through the plate 86. Beyond the plate and not visible in Figure 2, is mounted another gear wheel 126 which meshes with a gear wheel 128 carried by a sleeve 130 on which a second gear wheel is mounted identified by reference numeral 132 and which provides a driving surface for an endless belt 134 for driving a pinch wheel 136 located at the envelope exit. The gear wheel 132 meshes with another similar sized intermediate gear wheel 138 which in turn meshes with another gear wheel of similar size 140 which is attached to the shaft 110 on which the roller 52 is mounted. Although not clearly shown in Figures 3 and 11, the intermediate gear wheel 138 is in fact mounted on a shaft 142 which extends between the two members 54 and 56 and through a slot (not shown) in the plate 86 so that the intermediate gear wheel 138 moves with the roller 52 and the gear wheel 140. Likewise the gear wheel 132 (not visible in Figure 11 by virtue of being hidden) is mounted by an extension of the shaft 62 on which the sub-assembly formed by members 54 and 56 pivot so that the centre of rotation of gear wheel 138 rotates about the centre of rotation of gear wheel 132 and gear wheel 138 remains in constant mesh both with 132 and 140. Although no detail is given of the control circuitry, reference has already been made to the fact that control signals are derived from the operation of microswitch 98 for controlling the supply of operating current to motor 68. Other microswitches are provided as shown in Figure 4 operated by cams on cam shaft 66. One of the microswitches designated by reference numeral 144 is set to open when the motor has rotated the cam shaft 66 by an amount just sufficient to raise the roller 52 into its operating position. Activation of the thermal points at the print head to commence franking is timed in relation to the controlled entry of the envelope. Franking commences when the envelope transport mechanism has taken over to move the envelope through the apparatus. In order to initiate the print control signals at the correct instant, the processor delays release of the timed control signals for activating the thermal points by a period of time sufficient to allow the drive motor 68 to raise the pressure roller 52 to engage the envelope and the ribbon. Due to the differing shapes, thicknesses and surfaces of envelopes and other postal items which may be entered into the machine, and additionally due to variations along the length of any given item, a precisely uniform movement of the envelope by its transport mechanism cannot be ensured. Consequently in order to arrange that the franking information is imparted without distortion, the control signals which repeatedly and selectively energise the thermal points must be appropriately timed to incorporate timing variations corresponding to irregularities in envelope transport. It is therefore appropriate to monitor the transport of the envelope through the machine and derive the timing for the thermal point energising signals from the actual movement of the envelope. In the machine under consideration, the envelope and ribbon within the cassette travel precisely together and it is therefore possible to monitor the movement of the envelope by monitoring the linear movement of the ribbon. To this end the cassette makes provision for monitoring the linear movement of the ribbon within the cassette. Referring to Figures 6 and 10, it will be seen that the ribbon path within the cassette includes a guide roller 148 around which the ribbon passes after it leaves the delivery spool, a second roller 150 just ahead of the print head position and a curved guide surface 152 around which the ribbon passes after leaving the print position and just in advance of the take-up spool. The roller 148 is located just behind a window 154 situated at an angled corner of the cassette housing so as to expose the ribbon passing around the roller for engagement by an optical encoder (not shown) carried by the franking machine and located in or extending into the housing into which the cassette is fitted. Mention has previously been made of a two-stage operation for inserting the cassette into the housing. This is occassioned by virtue of the fact that the cassette has to be inserted into the housing broadside-on in the direction of arrow 26 in Figure 6 but after it has been fully located at the rear of the housing, it must then be lifted so as to bring the window 154 just below the wheel 156 of the encoder. The cassette is shown in its raised and operating position in Figure 2 with the roller 148 in contact (through the ribbon) with the wheel 156. To achieve the horizontal and vertical motion, the opposite ends of the cassette are formed with slideways, one of which is denoted by reference numeral the 176. Two slideways are provided at the opposite end and can be seen in Figure 7 and denoted by reference numerals 178 and 180. The three slideways can be seen in dotted outline in Figure 2. On the cooperating opposed side walls of the cassette housing are three protrusions 182, 184 and 186 which respectively engage the slideways 176, 178 and 180 and locate the cassette vertically as it is pushed into the housing. The slideways include lateral slots 176′, 178′ and 180′ which are divisional to slidingly receive the protrusions 182, 184 and 186 respectively where the cassette has been fully pushed into the housing. In order to facilitate the insertion of the cassette into its final electrical position in which the protrusions engage in the slots as opposed to the slidways, toggle springs are provided at the rear of the cassette housing which are engaged by the rear of the cassette as the latter is pushed into position. One of the toggle springs is shown at 188 in Figure 5 and a similar one (not shown) is located at the opposite end of the cassette housing. The toggle spring includes two diverging arms, one designated 190 and a longer one designated 192. On initial insertion the rear of the cassette engages the arm 190 and the longer arm 192 engages the underside of the cassette. Continued rearward movement of the cassette causes the arm 190 to be moved upwards and rearwards thereby tensioning the spring since the longer arm 192 is prevented from following due to its engagement with the underside of the cassette. As soon as the cassette has been pushed into the housing to an extent sufficient to enable the protrusions to engage the vertical slots in its ends, the cassette can move upwards, and does so, under the action of the two arms 192 of the two springs which at that stage are fully tensioned with the arms 190 almost vertical. The movement of the cassette in an upward direction is limited by the depth of the slots 176′, 178′ and 180′ in its ends and once the protrusions have engaged the slots and the cassette has moved into its fully raised position with the protrusions at the bottom of the slots, it remains firmly in that position under the action of the springs. Removal of the cassette is achieved quite simply by pressing the cassette in a downward direction within the housing until the protrusions are fully clear of the slots. The housing can now move back along the slideways out of the housing under the action of the springs. Since the ribbon will normally be hidden from view, it may be important to determine when the ribbon has been nearly used up. To this end a used ribbon detection lever 198 extends through an opening 200 in the rear wall of the cassette and is pivoted at 202 relative to a microswitch 204. The outboard end of the lever 198 rests on the ribbon wrapped around the take-up spool 30 and as the diameter of the latter increases, so the lever 198 is raised. At a given point the lever will have been raised sufficiently to actuate the microswitch 204, the operation of which is used to indicate via a visible or audible (or both) alarm, that the ribbon cassette is virtually exhausted. It will be seen that the lever 198 will automatically protrude through the cut away region 200 as the cassette is inserted into the housing and requires no setting-up. The machine may be arranged to be switched off after a predetermined amount of use after the microswitch 204 has actuated. The exit of the envelope is controlled by the exit pinch wheel 136 and the spring loaded jockey wheel 194 mounted thereabove, and tensioned by a spring 196. The pinch wheel is driven by the endless belt 134 as previously described with reference to Figure 3. Reference is made to copending European Patent Publications Nos. 0189984 and 0189269 which are directed to subject matter related to that described herein.

Claims: 1. A method of printing an article at a printing station using a thermal print head and a ribbon carrying thermally activatable dye, including the step of producing relative movement between the print head on the one hand and the article to be printed and the ribbon on the other hand, characterised in that adhesion between the article and the ribbon (29) is created by local heating of the ribbon, and in that the adhesion is used for driving the ribbon past the print head (27) from a supply spool (28) to a take-up spool (30). 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 further characterised by the step of using said adhesion to drive the supply spool (28) and the take-up spool (30). 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that said adhesion is subsequently removed by the further step of diverging the paths of the article and of the ribbon (29), thereby peeling away one from the other. 4. A method as claimed in any one of claim 1 to 3 characterised in that the spools are located in a cassette. 5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that either the print head is stationary relative to the printing station and the article is moved past the print head, or the print head (27) moves within the printing station and the item is stationary. 6. Apparatus for printing an article at a printing station comprising a thermal print head, a supply spool carrying a ribbon carrying thermally activatable dye, a take-up spool, and transport means for producing relative movement between the print head and the article, characterised in that the adhesion created between the article and the ribbon (29) by the act of thermal printing is utilised to cause the transport means to drive the ribbon from the supply spool (28) to the take-up spool (30). 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 characterised in that the ribbon supply and take-up spools are located in a cassette. 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that the ribbon (29) passes around a guide roller (148) located adjacent a window (154) in a wall of the cassette which is disposed adjacent a detector (156) when the cassette is located in position, and in that the detector is driven by frictional engagement with the ribbon as the latter passes around the guide roller. 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, characterised in that the inserted cassette is springloaded to engage the detector (156), and in that means is provided for loading the cassette and for guiding the cassette into a location in which the ribbon is accurately positioned in operational relationship to the detector.

Inventors: HARRY, ALAN
Applicants: FRANCOTYP-POSTALIA GMBH
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B41J2
IPC codes: G07B17, B41J32, B41J35