Printer with two different printing units

Abstract: A printer capable of continuously performing a picture print and a text print includes a picture print means for printing an image and text print means for printing text. The picture print means includes an ink sheet (42) and a recording head (40) to print the image by overlaying sublimed color inks. The text print means includes a head (200) having nozzles for ejecting the ink by means of pressure of bubbles.

Description: The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly, to an improved printer capable of continuously printing a picture and text. In general, there are a sublimation-type thermal transfer printer, an inkjet printer and a laser printer. The sublimation-type thermal transfer printer includes an ink sheet of which surface is sequentially coated with yellow, magenta, cyan and black in general, a heating head for heat-pressing the ink sheet according to a predetermined recording signal, and rollers for guiding a paper while each colour of the ink sheet is sequentially printed in a superimposing manner. The inkjet printer includes a reservoir for containing ink, a head comprising a plurality of nozzles for ejecting the ink provided from the reservoir, and an ejecting means for ejecting the ink through each nozzle to a paper. The laser printer includes a laser diode for radiating light, a polygonal rotating mirror for reflecting the light radiated from the laser diode, a photosensitive drum of which a predetermined portion is exposed to the light, a developing unit for developing a surface of the photosensitive drum with developing material, and a transferring unit for transferring the developed image of the developing material on the photosensitive drum to a paper. Meanwhile, when ID cards or credit cards bearing both text and picture images are manufactured, the text image is primarily printed on a paper by means of one of the above-mentioned printers and then the picture is cut and pasted on the text printed paper. Accordingly, in printing the ID or credit card using the above printers, it has been burdensome that the picture must be additionally attached after the text is printed. EP 361780 (Hewlett Packard) discloses a desk top printing system incorporating a multiple combination of a colour printer and a monochrome text printer. US 4547783 (Watamabe) discloses a sublimation type printer for forming an image on a sheet by transferring a colour medium from a transfer medium to the sheet in a transfer position in accordance with an image pattern. US 5081596 discloses a desk top printer for plain printer sheets including the integral combination of a colour printer and a text printer. The colour printer is of the ink jet type to print colour images incrementally and the text printer is of the laser-electro-photographic type to print monochrome text continuously. With a view to solving the above problems, it is an aim of embodiments of the present invention to provide an improved printer capable of one time printing of text and a picture. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a printer operative to continuously and sequentially print a picture and a text, comprising: picture print means for printing a picture image; and text print means for printing a text; the printer being characterized in that: (i) the picture print means comprises: a cylindrical platen drum; a cartridge installed at one side of said platen drum and containing an ink sheet on which inks of various colours are surface-sequentially coated, paper feeding means for feeding paper between said platen drum and the ink sheet, and a recording head for subliming the inks of the ink sheet onto a portion of the paper by heat-pressing the ink sheet according to a predetermined recording signal; (ii) there is provided a transferring unit for transferring the developed image of the developing material on a photosensitive drum to the paper and there is provided transfer means for selectively transferring said cartridge from one side of said platen drum to another side thereof according to a predetermined position of a picture print portion on the paper. Preferably, said text print means includes: a reservoir for containing an ink; a recording head having a multitude of nozzles for ejecting the ink supplied from said reservoir according to a predetermined recording signal; and ink ejection means for ejecting the ink. Preferably, said text print means includes: a photosensitive drum on a surface of which a photoconductive film is formed; a charger for charging the surface of said photosensitive drum; a laser diode for radiating light to the surface of said charged photosensitive drum; a developing unit for developing the surface of said photosensitive drum with a developing material; and said transferring unit for transferring the developed image of the developing material on said photosensitive drum to the paper. Said paper feeding means may comprise: a paper cassette where the papers are stacked; and a semicircular cam for transferring the paper on top of the paper stack contained in said paper cassette toward said platen drum. Alternatively, said paper feeding means may comprise: a roll where the paper is continuously wound; and a pair of rollers for press-transferring the paper. Preferably, said transfer means comprises: a guide rod coupled with a portion of said cartridge and for guiding the sliding of said cartridge; a screw installed in parallel with said guide rod and screw-coupled with said cartridge; and a driving motor for rotating said screw. For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic view illustrating another embodiment of a printer according to the present invention; Figures 3A and 3B are plan views showing positions of printed text and a picture on a paper; Figure 4 is a schematic view illustrating an ink sheet; Figures 5 and 6 are schematic views illustrating yet another embodiment of a printer according to the present invention; and Figure 7 is a schematic view illustrating a transfer means of a printer according to the present invention, for transferring a cartridge. Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. The printer includes a picture print means 100 for printing images such as graphics on a portion of a paper 31 and a text print means 200 for printing a text on the other portion of the paper 31. In this printer, the picture is first printed by the picture print means 100, and then the text is printed by the text print means 200. The picture print means 100 comprises a cylindrical platen drum 10, a cartridge 41 installed at one side of platen drum 10 and containing an ink sheet 42 where inks of various colors are surface-sequentially coated, paper feeding means for feeding paper 31 between the platen drum 10 and the ink sheet 42, and a recording head 40 for subliming the ink of the ink sheet 42 by heat-pressing the ink sheet 42 according to a predetermined recording signal and making the sublimed ink absorb onto a portion of the paper 31. The recording head 40 can be rotated by means of a predetermined driving means and be released from the cartridge 41. In the ink sheet 42, color inks of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M) and black (B) are surface-sequentially formed as shown in Figure 4. The paper feeding means comprises a paper cassette 30 where the papers 31 are stacked, and a semicircular cam 32 for transferring the paper 31 on top of the paper stack contained in paper cassette 30 toward the platen drum 10. The semicircular cam 32 is rotatably driven by means of a predetermined driving means. At the platen drum 10, guide rollers 11a, 11b and 11c for guiding the paper 31 are installed. The text print means 200 for printing text on the paper 31 ejected from the platen drum 10 is provided at one side of the platen drum 10. In this embodiment, an inkjet printer is employed for the text print means 200, which comprises a reservoir 21 for containing ink, a recording head 22 having a multitude of nozzles for ejecting the ink supplied from the reservoir 21 according to a predetermined recording signal, and an ink ejection means for ejecting the ink. The ink ejection means is provided with a heating member (not shown) for heating the ink, and thus, the ink is ejected due to pressure of bubbles occurring during the heating. Also, a transfer means for transferring the cartridge 41 from one side of the platen drum 10 to the other side thereof is provided in the present printer. Referring to Figures 1 and 7, the transfer means comprises a guide rod 71 installed in parallel with a rotation axis of the platen drum 10 and coupled with the cartridge 41 by a support piece 80, for guiding the sliding of the cartridge 41, a screw 72 installed in parallel with the guide rod 71 and screw-coupled with the cartridge 41, and a driving motor 70 for rotating the screw 72. Here, the support piece 80 connected with the cartridge 41 is hanged on the guide rod 71 so as to be capable of sliding. Accordingly, the cartridge 41 driven by the driving motor 70 can be moved in a direction of the rotation axis of the platen drum 10. The transfer means is for selectively moving the cartridge 41 according to a position of a picture print portion 31a on the paper 31, as shown in Figures 3A and 3B. The operation of such a printer having a structure according to the present invention will now be described. Referring to Figures 1, 3 and 4, a sheet of paper 31 in the paper cassette 30 is transferred toward the platen drum 10, while being closely pressed to the platen drum 10 by the guide roller 11a. Then, the recording head 40 is rotated toward the platen drum 10 to heat-press the ink sheet 42 according to a predetermined recording signal. Here, yellow (Y) (see Figure 4) is printed on the picture print portion 31a of the paper 31, shown in Figure 3A. After the printing of the yellow (Y) is completed, both the platen drum 10 and the guide roller 11a reversely rotate till the yellow (Y) printed paper is replaced at a initial position before printing. During the back transfer of the paper 31, the recording head 40 is rotated to be released and a cyan (C) portion (Figure 4) is placed at the printing position by winding the ink sheet 42 in one direction. In this state, the platen drum 10 and the guide roller 11a rotate again in a original direction, and thus the paper 31 is re-fed. Subsequently, the recording head 40 is rotated back and heat-presses the ink sheet 42 to print the cyan (C) onto the yellow (Y) printed paper 31. When the cyan (C) printing is completed, magenta (M) and black (B) printing are each carried out in the same manner. Accordingly, each color is printed to be overlaid with each other at the picture print portion 31a on the paper 31. After the printing at the picture print portion 31a is completed, the paper 31 is transferred by the guide roller 11b and 11c toward the text print means 200, i.e., the inkjet printer, while guided by a guide plate 14. Here, the ink is ejected to a text print portion 31b of Figure 3A and a text is printed. Then, the paper 31 is ejected through transfer rollers 12 and 13. In the mean time, when the picture print portion 31a is disposed at the right side of the paper 31 as shown in Figure 3B, the cartridge 41 driven by the driving motor 70 is moved to the corresponding right side of the platen drum 10. Then, the picture and text are sequentially printed on the paper 31 in the above-described process. As shown in Figure 5 showing a second embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, a paper feeding means comprises a roll 60 where a paper 61 is continuously wound, and a pair of rollers 62 and 63 for press-transferring the paper 61. When the roll 60 is employed as above, it is preferred to further adopt a cutter 64 for cutting the paper 61 after the picture and text printing is completed. In this embodiment, the picture and text printing is performed following the above sequence. Figure 2, wherein components corresponding to those shown in Figure 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, shows a third embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. Referring to Figure 2, a text print means 300 comprises a photosensitive drum 50 on whose surface a photoconductive film is formed, a charger 51 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 50, a laser diode 54 for radiating light to the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 50, a developing unit 52 for developing the surface of the photosensitive drum 50 with a developing material, and a transferring unit 53 for transferring the developed image of the developing material onto the paper 31. In the printer of this embodiment, the operation of the picture print means 100 will be omitted since the operation is the same as that of the picture print means 100 of Figure 1. In the operation of the text print means 300, the paper 31 where a picture is printed is transferred by means of the guide roller 11c and a transfer roller 11d toward the text print means 300. Here, a surface of the photosensitive drum 50 is charged by the charger 51. Light is radiated from the laser diode 54 and the light arrives on the surface of the photosensitive drum 50 via a reflection mirror 55. At this time, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 50. Next, a developing material is coated from the developing unit 52 on the electrostatic latent image of the photosensitive drum 50. Then, the developing material coated on the photosensitive drum 50 is transferred by the transferring unit 53 to the text print portion 31b (see FIGs. 3A and 3B) of the paper 31, thereby absorbing onto the surface of the paper 31. The developing material transferred to the paper 31 is fixed through fixing rollers 90. Referring to Figure 6, showing a fourth embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, wherein the identical elements consequently bear the same reference numerals given in Figure 2, a roll 60' where a paper 61' is wound and transfer rollers 62' and 63' for transferring the paper 61' are employed as a paper feeding means. Also, a cutter 64' for cutting the paper 61' is further provided. The operation of the printer of this embodiment is the same as that of the printer shown in Figure 2. As described above, the printer according to the present invention is capable of continuously printing both a picture and text information. It is noted that the present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment described above, and it is apparent that variations and modifications by those skilled in the art can be effected within the scope of the present invention defined in the appended claims.

Claims: A printer operative to continuously and sequentially print a picture and a text, comprising: picture print means (100) for printing a picture image; and text print means (200, 300) for printing a text; the printer being characterized in that : (i) the picture print means comprises: a cylindrical platen drum (10), a cartridge (41) installed at one side of said platen drum (10) and containing an ink sheet (42) on which inks of various colours are surface-sequentially coated, paper feeding means for feeding paper (31, 61, 61') between said platen drum (10) and the ink sheet (42), and a recording head (40) for subliming the inks of the ink sheet (42) onto a portion of the paper (31, 61, 61') by heat-pressing the ink sheet according to a predetermined recording signal; (ii) there is provided a transferring unit (53) for transferring the developed image of the developing material on a photosensitive drum (50) to the paper (31) and there is provided transfer means (70, 71, 72) for selectively transferring said cartridge (41) from one side of said platen drum (10) to another side thereof according to a predetermined position of a picture print portion on the paper. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said text print means (200) includes: a reservoir (21) for containing an ink; a recording head (22) having a multitude of nozzles for ejecting the ink supplied from said reservoir (21) according to a predetermined recording signal; and ink ejection means for ejecting the ink. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said text print means (300) includes: a photosensitive drum (50) on a surface of which a photoconductive film is formed; a charger (51) for charging the surface of said photosensitive drum (50); a laser diode (54) for radiating light to the surface of said charged photosensitive drum (50) ; a developing unit (52) for developing the surface of said photosensitive drum (50) with a developing material; and said transferring unit (53) for transferring the developed image of the developing material on said photosensitive drum (50) to the paper (61, 61'). A printer as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said paper feeding means comprises: a paper cassette (30) where the papers (31) are stacked; and a semicircular cam (32) for transferring the paper (31) on top of the paper stack (32) contained in said paper cassette (30) toward said platen drum (10). A printer as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said paper feeding means comprises: a roll (60, 60') where the paper (61, 61') is continuously wound; and a pair of rollers (62, 63, 62', 63') for press-transferring the paper (61, 61'). A printer as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said transfer means comprises : a guide rod (71) coupled with a portion of said cartridge (41) and for guiding the sliding of said cartridge (41); a screw (72) installed in parallel with said guide rod (71) and screw-coupled with said cartridge (41); and a driving motor (70) for rotating said screw (72).

Inventors: KOO SANG-HEON, KOO, SANG-HEON
Applicants: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B41J2
IPC codes: G03G15, B41J2, B41J3, B41J11, B41J15