CN116968444A - Thermal sublimation printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a thermal sublimation printer, comprising: a consumable assembly comprising a consumable support, a ribbon take-up spool, a ribbon release spool, a ribbon, and a print sheet; the consumable support is provided with a sheet containing groove which is downwards opened and used for containing printing sheets, the front end of the sheet containing groove is provided with a sheet outlet gap between the ribbon take-up shaft and the ribbon release shaft, and the sheet outlet gap is configured to be suitable for only allowing single printing sheets to pass through; the front end of the sheet containing groove is respectively provided with a limiting part at the left side and the right side, and the two limiting parts form an upper wall of a sheet outlet gap and are arranged in a separated mode along the left-right direction; and a printer body including a frame, a printing mechanism, and an elastic abutment mechanism; the elastic abutting mechanism is fixedly connected to the bottom of the frame and provided with two elastic arms, the two elastic arms are suitable for abutting against the bottom of the printing sheet when the consumable component is positioned in the loading space, and the abutting positions are respectively close to the two limiting parts; the thermal sublimation printer can solve the problem that a printing sheet is clamped at a sheet outlet gap.

Description

Thermal sublimation printer

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of thermal sublimation printers, in particular to a thermal sublimation printer.

Background

Common printers that work with a thermal head that can generate heat in conjunction with a print roller generally include both thermal printers and thermal sublimation printers. Among them, the thermal sublimation printer needs to be used with a ribbon cartridge, and is generally used for printing photo paper, and its structure generally includes: the printing device comprises a frame, a consumable support, a printing mechanism with a thermal head and a printing roller, a transmission mechanism for driving a printing sheet to move and an elastic supporting mechanism for supporting the printing sheet. Wherein, the frame is used for installing foretell consumptive material support, printing mechanism, drive mechanism and elastic support mechanism, and the consumptive material support is used for placing ribbon cartridge and printing sheet, and printing sheet can be followed the play piece clearance department of consumptive material support and reach the printing position of printing mechanism department, and elastic support mechanism accessible torsional spring supports printing sheet to make printing sheet can be compressed tightly at the wall of consumptive material support.

In the actual use process, the printing sheets in the consumable support are usually in a state that a plurality of sheets are stacked, the bottom of the stacked printing sheet group is propped against by the elastic supporting mechanism, so that the top of the printing sheet group can prop against one wall surface of the consumable support, and at the moment, the printing sheet at the top can be driven to be output from the sheet outlet gap. In general, the sheet discharging gap can only be used for separating a single printing sheet, but because the consumable support is generally made of plastic, the size of the sheet discharging gap is easy to be reduced due to deformation, so that the printing sheet is clamped at the sheet discharging gap.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks or problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal sublimation printer that can solve the problem of jamming of a printed sheet at a sheet-out gap.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical scheme:

a thermal sublimation printer comprising: a consumable assembly comprising a consumable support, a ribbon take-up spool, a ribbon release spool, a ribbon, and a print sheet; the ribbon winding shaft and the ribbon releasing shaft are used for loading the ribbon and are arranged on the consumable support in parallel with each other, and the ribbon winding shaft is positioned in front of the ribbon releasing shaft; the consumable support is provided with a sheet containing groove which is downwards opened and used for containing the printing sheets, the front end of the sheet containing groove is provided with a sheet outlet gap between the ribbon take-up shaft and the ribbon release shaft, and the sheet outlet gap is configured to be suitable for only allowing a single printing sheet to pass through; limiting parts are respectively arranged at the left side and the right side of the front end of the sheet containing groove, and the two limiting parts form the upper wall of the sheet outlet gap and are arranged in a separated mode along the left-right direction; and a printer body including a frame, a printing mechanism, and an elastic abutment mechanism; the printing mechanism is accommodated in the frame and matched with the frame to form a loading space suitable for accommodating the consumable component; the elastic abutting mechanism is fixedly connected to the bottom of the frame and provided with two elastic arms, the two elastic arms are suitable for abutting against the bottom of the printing sheet when the consumable component is located in the loading space, and the abutting positions are respectively close to the two limiting parts.

Further, the two elastic arms of the elastic abutting mechanism are configured to be adapted to have a position where they abut against the printing sheet between the sheet discharging gap and the ribbon releasing shaft.

Further, the printing mechanism includes a thermal head and a print roller disposed opposite from top to bottom, both configured and adapted to pass the ink ribbon and the print sheet therebetween, and both positioned between the take-up gap and the ink ribbon take-up spool.

Further, two guide parts are arranged at the front end of the sheet containing groove at the left side and the right side, corresponding to the two limiting parts; the two guide parts form the lower wall of the sheet outlet gap and are provided with a first guide surface for guiding the printing sheet to leave the sheet containing groove from the sheet outlet gap; the first guide surface extends obliquely from bottom to top and forwards.

Further, the guide part is provided with a bearing surface which faces upwards and is connected with the first guide surface, and the limit part is provided with a downward limit surface; the distance between the bearing surface and the limiting surface in the corresponding guide part and limiting part in the up-down direction is larger than or equal to the thickness of a single printing sheet and smaller than the thickness of two printing sheets.

Further, the consumable support is provided with a top plate and a first side plate, the top plate and the first side plate are matched to define at least part of the space in the sheet containing groove, the top plate is positioned at the upper part of the sheet containing groove, and the first side plate is positioned at the front part of the sheet containing groove; the limiting part is arranged at the front end of the top plate, the guiding part is arranged on the first side plate, and the front edge of the limiting part is positioned behind the bearing surface of the guiding part.

Further, a notch is formed in the front edge of the top plate backwards so that the two limiting parts are separated in the left-right direction, the rear edge of the notch is located between the sheet outlet gap and the ribbon releasing shaft, and the two limiting parts are respectively arranged on the left side and the right side of the notch.

Further, a second guiding surface is arranged at the part of the first side plate corresponding to the notch in the left-right direction, and the second guiding surface extends obliquely from bottom to top and forwards, and the inclination angle of the second guiding surface is larger than that of the first guiding surface.

Further, the device also comprises a sheet driving mechanism; the top plate is provided with an operation opening which is vertically communicated behind the ribbon releasing shaft; the operation opening is used for exposing the printing sheet above the top plate so that the sheet driving mechanism drives the printing sheet to move.

As can be seen from the above description of the present invention, the present invention has the following advantages over the prior art:

1. the thermal sublimation printer comprises a consumable component and a printer body, wherein a consumable support of the consumable component is provided with a containing groove, the containing groove is downwards opened, a printing sheet can enter the containing groove from the opening of the containing groove, and when the consumable component is contained in a loading space in the printer body, an elastic abutting mechanism can abut against the bottom of the printing sheet and apply force towards the top wall of the containing groove to the printing sheet; the consumable support is also used for installing a ribbon supply winding shaft and a ribbon release shaft, the ribbon can be loaded on the ribbon supply winding shaft and the ribbon release shaft, the ribbon supply winding shaft actively operates to drive the ribbon to move, the ribbon release shaft releases the ribbon when the ribbon moves, and the ribbon supply winding shaft is arranged in front of the ribbon release shaft so as to ensure that the direction of a printing sheet leaving a sheet containing groove is consistent with the moving direction of the ribbon; the sheet discharging gap is arranged on the sheet containing groove, the size of the sheet discharging gap is limited to enable one printing sheet to pass through, so that other printing sheets below the sheet discharging gap cannot be driven to leave the sheet containing groove when the printing sheet on the uppermost layer moves away from the sheet containing groove, the sheet discharging gap is arranged between the ribbon winding shaft and the ribbon releasing shaft, the moving distance of the printing sheet reaching the printing mechanism can be reduced, and the printer structure is more compact; the front end of the sheet containing groove is provided with two limiting parts which are arranged left and right in a separated mode and used for forming the upper wall of the sheet outlet gap, and the effect of avoiding the deviation of the size of the sheet outlet gap can be achieved; simultaneously, the propping positions of the two elastic arms of the elastic propping mechanism are respectively close to the two limiting parts, so that the printing sheet can be guaranteed to be clung to the top wall of the sheet containing groove at the position close to the sheet outlet gap, the front end of the printing sheet is prevented from sagging, and the uppermost printing sheet can smoothly pass through the sheet outlet gap.

2. The position of two elastic arms of the elastic abutting mechanism abutting the printing sheet is located between the sheet discharging gap and the ribbon releasing shaft, the position of the elastic arms can be guaranteed to be close to the front side sufficiently, the front end of the printing sheet can be prevented from sagging, and the uppermost printing sheet can be aligned to the sheet discharging gap to leave the sheet containing groove.

3. The thermal head and the printing roller of the printing mechanism are positioned between the sheet outlet gap and the ribbon winding shaft, the ribbon and the printing sheet can pass through the gap, and the sheet outlet gap is closer to the working position of the printing mechanism, so that the front-back size of the consumable support is reduced, the size of the printer in the front-back direction is further reduced, and the printer structure is more compact.

4. The front end of the sheet containing groove is provided with two guide parts for forming the lower wall of the sheet outlet gap, and a first guide surface is arranged on the guide parts and used for guiding the printing sheet on the uppermost layer, so that the printing sheet on the uppermost layer can leave from the sheet outlet gap and can not be folded and piled.

5. The guide part is provided with the bearing surface, the limiting part is provided with the limiting surface, the bearing surface and the limiting surface are matched with each other to limit the size which can be used for allowing the printing sheet to pass through in the up-down direction, because the printing sheet moves in the front-back direction, the size which limits the bearing surface and the limiting surface in the up-down direction is limited, whether the printing sheet can pass through in the front-back direction or not can be limited, and when the size is set to be capable of allowing a single printing sheet to pass through, other printing sheets can be prevented from being driven by the uppermost printing sheet to leave the containing groove.

6. The consumable support is provided with a top plate and a first side plate, the top plate is located on the upper portion of the containing groove, the limiting part is arranged at the front end of the top plate, the front edge of the limiting part is located behind the bearing surface of the guiding part, the printing sheet is provided with a slightly upward outlet, the printing sheet does not block above the printing sheet when leaving from the discharging gap, the printing sheet can be slightly deformed at the position, the situation that the printing sheet cannot leave the containing groove from the discharging gap when errors exist in distance setting of the bearing surface and the limiting surface can be avoided, larger redundant space can be provided for movement of the printing sheet, and meanwhile, the technical purpose that only one printing sheet can be discharged at the same time can be achieved.

7. The roof leading edge sets up the breach, and the breach trailing edge is located out between piece clearance and the typewriter ribbon release axle, can prescribe a limit to the size of breach in the fore-and-aft direction, avoids the breach too big to lead to printing the sheet to appear crooked in breach department, also can avoid leading to the breach unable effect of avoiding two spacing portions to appear deformation because of the breach is too little.

8. The first side plate is provided with the second guide surface, the second guide surface can guide the printing sheet positioned between the two guide parts, and the whole printing sheet can be ensured to smoothly leave from the sheet outlet gap.

9. A sheet driving mechanism is provided, an operation port is provided in the top plate, and the sheet driving mechanism can drive the exposed printing sheet from the operation port, so that the printing sheet positioned at the uppermost layer can move relative to the consumable support.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required to be used in the description of the embodiments below are briefly introduced, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view 1 of a consumable holder in an embodiment of a thermal sublimation printer according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a consumable holder in a thermal sublimation printer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a consumable holder in a thermal sublimation printer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the consumable holder of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a frame, an elastic support mechanism, and an elastic support mechanism in an embodiment of a thermal sublimation printer according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an assembly structure of a frame and a consumable holder in an embodiment of a thermal sublimation printer according to the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of a part of the structure of a consumable assembly and a printer body in an embodiment of a thermal sublimation printer according to the present invention.

The main reference numerals illustrate:

a consumable holder 10; a print space 101; notch 102; a sheet discharge gap 103; wafer receiving slots 104; an operation port 105; a first side plate 11; a guide portion 111; a first guide surface 1110; a bearing surface 1111; a blocking surface 112; a second guide surface 113; a groove 114; a top plate 12; a limiting part 121; a limit surface 122; chamfering 123; a second side plate 13; a third side plate 14; a fourth side plate 15; a flange 16;

a frame 20;

an elastic abutment mechanism 30; a main body 31; a mounting portion 311; a resilient arm 32; an abutment surface 321; a third guide surface 322;

an elastic support mechanism 40; a rotating member 41; a support surface 411; a fourth guide surface 412; a torsion spring 42;

a ribbon release shaft housing 51; a ribbon take-up spool 52;

a thermal head 61; a print roller 62.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are preferred embodiments of the invention and should not be taken as excluding other embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts, are within the protection scope of the present invention.

In the claims, specification and drawings hereof, unless explicitly defined otherwise, the terms "first," "second," or "third," etc. are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular sequential order.

In the claims, specification and drawings of the present invention, unless explicitly defined otherwise, references to orientation or positional relationship such as the terms "center", "lateral", "longitudinal", "horizontal", "vertical", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc. are based on the orientation and positional relationship shown in the drawings and are merely for convenience of description and to simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or element referred to must have a particular orientation or be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, nor should it be construed as limiting the particular scope of the invention.

In the claims, specification and drawings of the present invention, unless explicitly defined otherwise, the term "fixedly connected" or "fixedly connected" should be construed broadly, i.e. any connection between them without a displacement relationship or a relative rotation relationship, that is to say includes non-detachably fixedly connected, integrally connected and fixedly connected by other means or elements.

In the claims, specification and drawings of the present invention, the terms "comprising," having, "and variations thereof as used herein, are intended to be" including but not limited to.

The present disclosure provides an embodiment of a thermal sublimation printer that includes a printer body and a consumable assembly.

The printer body mainly includes a frame 20, a printing mechanism, an elastic abutment mechanism 30, an elastic support mechanism 40, a sheet driving mechanism, and a conveying mechanism, and specifically reference may be made to fig. 5 and 7, fig. 5 showing the above-described frame 20, elastic abutment mechanism 30, and elastic support mechanism 40, fig. 7 showing the above-described printing mechanism, and the sheet driving mechanism and conveying mechanism not shown in the drawings. It should be noted that, in the printer body, except for the elastic abutting mechanism 30, the conventional technical means in the art are adopted, and those skilled in the art can refer to the related content of the chinese patent document CN210617614U when implementing the thermal sublimation printer provided in the present embodiment.

The printing mechanism is accommodated in the frame 20 and is matched with the frame 20 to form a loading space suitable for accommodating consumable components. The printing mechanism mainly comprises a thermal head 61 and a printing roller 62 which are oppositely arranged from top to bottom, and the thermal head 61 and the printing roller can be matched with a consumable component to complete the printing function of the thermal sublimation printer, and the specific process is explained in the following description of the consumable component. The shape of the loading space formed by the matching of the printing mechanism and the frame 20 is matched with the consumable component, in this embodiment, a through slot for the consumable component to pass through is provided on the left side of the frame 20, and referring to fig. 6, the consumable support 10 in the consumable component is assembled into the frame 20 to form the assembly structure shown in fig. 6.

Specific directional schematic views refer to fig. 2, 4 and 5, in the description and claims of the present invention, the directions include an X direction, a Y direction and a Z direction, the X direction, the Y direction and the Z direction include a positive direction and a negative direction, the arrow direction in the drawing is the positive direction of the corresponding direction, and the negative direction is the direction opposite to the arrow direction, at the same time, the printer can be placed in a space in a normal posture for example, and can also point in a front-back direction, a left-right direction and a top-bottom direction, where the front-back direction, the left-right direction and the top-bottom direction are bidirectional, i.e. when the directions are indicated in the front-back direction, the left-right direction and the top-bottom direction, the top-bottom direction are not identified, but if the directions are indicated in the top-down direction, the left direction, the right direction, the front direction, the back direction, etc., the pointing is identified; in the drawings of the present specification, the positive direction in the X direction is the front, the negative direction is the rear, the positive direction in the Y direction is the left, the negative direction is the right, the positive direction in the Z direction is the up, and the negative direction is the down.

As can be seen, in the present embodiment, the consumable support 10 is inserted into the frame 20 from left to right. Of course, in other embodiments, the consumable support 10 may be inserted into the frame 20 from right to left, at which point the corresponding structure should be changed.

The specific structure of each component is discussed in detail below.

Referring to fig. 1 to 7, the consumable assembly includes a consumable support 10, a ribbon take-up spool 52, a ribbon take-up shaft, a ribbon and a printing sheet, the ribbon take-up spool 52 and the ribbon take-up shaft being mounted on the consumable support 10 in parallel with each other and the ribbon take-up spool 52 being located in front of the ribbon take-up shaft; the consumable support 10 is provided with a sheet containing groove 104 which is opened downwards and is used for containing printing sheets, the front end of the sheet containing groove 104 is provided with a sheet outlet gap 103 which is positioned between the ribbon winding shaft 52 and the ribbon releasing shaft, and the sheet outlet gap 103 is configured to be suitable for only allowing single printing sheets to pass through; the front end of the sheet accommodating groove 104 is respectively provided with a limiting part 121 at the left side and the right side, and the two limiting parts 121 form the upper wall of the sheet clearance 103 and are arranged at intervals along the left-right direction. Meanwhile, the front end of the sheet accommodating groove 104 is provided with two guide parts 111 corresponding to the two limiting parts 121 on the left and right sides, and the two guide parts 111 form the lower wall of the sheet clearance 103.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1, 2 and 7, the main body 31 of the consumable assembly is a consumable holder 10, and the consumable holder 10 is used for mounting or accommodating other parts of the consumable assembly. The consumable support 10 is provided with a top plate 12, a first side plate 11, a second side plate 13, a third side plate 14 and a fourth side plate 15, wherein the first side plate 11 is positioned in front of the top plate 12, the second side plate 13, the third side plate 14 are positioned at the left side edge and the right side edge of the top plate 12, the fourth side plate 15 is positioned at the rear side edge of the top plate 12, and the second side plate 13, the third side plate 14 and the fourth side plate 15 are connected with the edges of the top plate 12, wherein the top plate 12 and the first side plate 11 are matched to define at least part of the space in the groove of the chip containing groove 104, and the top plate 12, the first side plate 11, the second side plate 13, the third side plate 14 and the fourth side plate 15 are matched to jointly define the space in the groove of the chip containing groove 104. Here, the sheet receiving slot 104 may be regarded as a solid body formed by matching the top plate 12, the first side plate 11, the second side plate 13, the third side plate 14 and the fourth side plate 15, the top plate 12 is located at the upper portion of the sheet receiving slot 104, the first side plate 11 is located at the front portion of the sheet receiving slot 104, an in-slot space is formed in the sheet receiving slot 104, the bottom of the in-slot space is open for loading printing sheets into the sheet receiving slot 104, and the lower edges of the first side plate 11, the second side plate 13, the third side plate 14 and the fourth side plate 15 are substantially flush. The shape and size of the printing sheet are matched with the space in the sheet accommodating groove 104, so that the printing sheet can be prevented from being deviated in the sheet accommodating groove 104.

Wherein, the two guiding parts 111 are provided with a first guiding surface 1110 for guiding the printing sheet to leave the sheet containing groove 104 from the sheet discharging gap 103, and the first guiding surface 1110 extends obliquely from bottom to top to front; the guide portion 111 is provided with a supporting surface 1111 which faces upwards and is engaged with the first guide surface 1110, the limit portion 121 is provided with a downward limit surface 122, and the distances between the supporting surface 1111 and the limit surface 122 in the corresponding guide portion 111 and limit portion 121 in the up-down direction are greater than or equal to the thickness of a single printing sheet and less than the thickness of two printing sheets. In the present embodiment, the limiting portion 121 is disposed at the front end of the top plate 12, the guiding portion 111 is disposed on the first side plate 11, and the front edge of the limiting portion 121 is located behind the supporting surface 1111 of the guiding portion 111. Meanwhile, a notch 102 is formed at the front edge of the top plate 12 in the rear direction to separate the two limiting parts 121 in the left-right direction, and the rear edge of the notch 102 is located between the tab clearance 103 and the ribbon releasing shaft, and the two limiting parts 121 are respectively located at the left side and the right side of the notch 102.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1 to 4, the front edge of the top plate 12 is slotted backward at the middle part in the left-right direction to form a notch 102, the projection shape of the notch 102 in the up-down direction is approximately rectangular, by the arrangement of the notch 102, two limiting parts 121 are formed at the left-right sides of the front end of the top plate 12, the inner edges of the two limiting parts 121 form the edges of the notch 102, and the outer edges of the two limiting parts 121 are respectively connected with the upper edges of the second side plate 13 and the third side plate 14, however, the above edge connection and the like are merely expressions for convenience of description, and the consumable part bracket 10 can also be directly manufactured by an integral molding process. The front edges of the two limiting parts 121 are spaced apart from the first side plate 11 in the front-rear direction to form a slightly upward inclined tab clearance 103, while the downward surface of the limiting part 121 forms a limiting surface 122, and the limiting surface 122 is spaced apart from a supporting surface 1111 of the guiding part 111 in the up-down direction, which will be described in detail below in the structure of the first side plate 11.

The left and right ends of the first side plate 11 are in contact with the inner wall surfaces of the second side plate 13 and the third side plate 14, and guide portions 111 are formed at the left and right ends of the first side plate 11 in a range corresponding to the two limiting portions 121, and referring to fig. 1 and 4, the guide portions 111 are provided with a first guide surface 1110 and a supporting surface 1111, the first guide surface 1110 is inclined from bottom to top and the supporting surface 1111 is parallel to the limiting surface 122 and extends in the front-rear direction. The tab clearance 103 is formed between the front edge of the limiting portion 121 and the guiding portion 111, where the tab clearance 103 can be regarded as a channel having a certain length, which substantially extends from the front edge of the limiting portion 121 to the supporting surface 1111 of the upper portion and part of the first guiding surface 1110 of the guiding portion 111. The inner wall surface of the first side plate 11 is also formed with a blocking surface 112, and the blocking surface 112 extends in the left-right direction and engages with the first guide surface 1110 at the upper edge.

Normally, when the printing sheets are accommodated in the sheet accommodating groove 104, the printing sheets are spread in a state parallel to the lower side surface of the top plate 12, a plurality of printing sheets are stacked, and the leading ends of the printing sheets are abutted against the inner wall surface of the first side plate 11. The position of the uppermost printing sheet in the up-down direction corresponds to the range defined by the limiting surface 122 and the supporting surface 1111, referring to fig. 4, the distance between the limiting surface 122 and the supporting surface 1111 in the up-down direction is d, and d is greater than or equal to the thickness of a single printing sheet and less than the thickness of two printing sheets, so that when the uppermost printing sheet moves forward relative to the consumable support 10, the bottom edge of the front end of the uppermost printing sheet can just pass over the supporting surface 1111, and other printing sheets below the uppermost printing sheet can be blocked by the first side plate 11. The first guide surface 1110 serves here to guide the uppermost printing sheet to the support surface 1111, so that the printing sheet is prevented from being caught in the sheet discharge gap 103 due to a positional error of the support surface 1111.

In addition, the front edge of the limiting portion 121 is further provided with a chamfer 123 facing the guiding portion 111, and the chamfer 123 can prevent damage to the printing sheet due to the front edge of the limiting portion 121 being too sharp when the printing sheet leaves the sheet-exiting gap 103.

In this embodiment, the two limiting portions 121 are separated by the notch 102, so that the variation of the size of the sheet discharging gap 103 formed between the limiting portions 121 and the guiding portion 111 due to the deformation of the top plate 12 can be avoided, and the size of the sheet discharging gap 103 can only pass through a single printing sheet by controlling the distance between the limiting surface 122 and the supporting surface 1111 in the up-down direction due to the thinner thickness of the printing sheet, so that the variation of the size of the sheet discharging gap 103 can cause problems in realizing the function, for example, the excessive distance d can cause a plurality of printing sheets to be simultaneously output, the excessive distance d can cause the printing sheets to be unable to be output, and therefore, the notch 102 on the top plate 12 greatly improves the structural stability of the two limiting portions 121, and accordingly, the size of the sheet discharging gap 103 can be kept stable. In addition, the rear edge of the notch 102 is limited to be located between the ribbon releasing shaft and the sheet discharging gap 103, so that the size of the notch 102 can be limited, and the problem that the printing sheet is severely deformed due to the fact that the notch 102 is not blocked above the printing sheet because the size of the notch 102 in the front-rear direction is too large is avoided.

It should be noted that the output of the printed sheets is achieved by a sheet driving mechanism, and the specific structure of the sheet driving mechanism can be referred to in chinese patent document CN210617614U regarding the conveying member, which generally includes a driving motor and a driving body that is rotatable by the driving motor. In this embodiment, the top plate 12 is provided with an operation opening 105 penetrating up and down behind the ribbon releasing shaft, and the operation opening 105 is used for exposing a printing sheet above the top plate 12 so that the printing sheet is driven by the sheet driving mechanism to move. Specifically, the operation opening 105 is provided such that a portion of the uppermost layer of the printing sheet can be exposed, and the driving body of the sheet driving mechanism is located above the top plate 12 and can be brought into contact with the uppermost layer of the printing sheet through the operation opening 105 in operation, and the uppermost layer of the printing sheet can be moved forward relative to the consumable support 10 by the frictional force therebetween.

Preferably, the first side plate 11 is provided with a second guiding surface 113 at a portion corresponding to the notch 102 in the left-right direction, the second guiding surface 113 is inclined from bottom to top forward and has a larger inclination angle than the first guiding surface 1110, and meanwhile, the first side plate 11 is further provided with a groove portion 114 recessed downward between the two guiding portions 111. The second guide surface 113 guides the portion of the print sheet located between the two guide portions 111, and ensures that slight deformation of the print sheet in the middle position in the left-right direction does not affect the exit of the print sheet from the sheet exit gap 103, so that the print sheet can smoothly exit from the sheet exit gap 103 from the sheet accommodating groove 104. The slot 114 may function similar to the second guide surface 113, but when the leading edge of the printed sheet has reached the supporting surface 1111, the slot 114 may provide a certain deformation space for the middle position of the printed sheet, and the slot 114 may cooperate with the bend to ensure that the printed sheet leaves smoothly from the sheet outlet gap 103.

In addition, a flange 16 is disposed at the bottom of the first side plate 11, and the flange 16 extends toward the inner side of the sheet receiving slot 104 with respect to the first side plate 11 and extends in the left-right direction by a certain length, which can provide a certain support at the front end position of the printing sheet when the printing sheet is received in the sheet receiving slot 104.

The top plate 12 top space of consumable support 10 is provided with the typewriter ribbon release axle shell 51, and typewriter ribbon release axle shell 51 internally mounted has typewriter ribbon release axle, and the epaxial winding of typewriter ribbon release has typewriter ribbon, and the left and right sides of typewriter ribbon release axle cooperates with consumable support 10 pin joint, is equipped with the opening on typewriter ribbon release axle shell 51, and the opening is used for supplying the epaxial winding typewriter ribbon of typewriter ribbon release to leave typewriter ribbon release axle shell 51, and the direction that typewriter ribbon left is towards consumable support 10's place ahead. The ribbon winding shaft 52 is arranged in front of the ribbon releasing shaft housing 51, the left end and the right end of the ribbon winding shaft 52 are in pivot joint with the consumable support 10 and can be driven by a motor or the like to rotate relative to the consumable support 10, the ribbon is wound on the ribbon winding shaft 52 after being separated from the ribbon releasing shaft, and the ribbon is continuously separated from the ribbon releasing shaft through the rotation of the ribbon winding shaft 52.

The consumable support 10 forms a print space 101 between the ribbon take-up spool 52 and the ribbon take-up spool 52, and when the consumable assembly is installed in the device space of the printer body, the printing mechanism is located between the ribbon take-up spool 52 and the ribbon take-up spool 52, and is also located in the print space 101, wherein the print roller 62 and the thermal head 61 are located between the take-up spool 52 and the take-up gap 103, and the ink ribbon and the print sheet can reach between the print roller 62 and the thermal head 61 of the printing mechanism, and the ink on the ribbon and the protective layer can be transferred onto the print sheet by the printing mechanism. It should be noted that in one printing cycle, the printing sheet can reciprocate in the front-back direction relative to the printing mechanism, so that the printing mechanism transfers the inks with different colors on the color bands and the protective layer onto the printing sheet, and this operation is a conventional technical means in the art, and will not be repeated herein. The matching relation between the printing mechanism and the consumable support 10 in position shortens the distance between the sheet outlet gap 103 and the printing position of the printing mechanism, and can reduce the size of the thermal sublimation printer in the front-rear direction, so that the thermal sublimation printer is smaller in size and more compact in structure.

Referring to fig. 5, the elastic abutment mechanism 30 and the elastic support mechanism 40 in the printer body are explained below.

The elastic abutting mechanism 30 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the frame 20 and is provided with two elastic arms 32, the two elastic arms 32 are suitable for abutting against the bottom of the printing sheet when the consumable component is located in the device space, the abutting positions are respectively close to the two limiting parts 121, and further, the two elastic arms 32 are configured to be suitable for enabling the positions of the two elastic arms abutting against the printing sheet to be located between the sheet outlet gap 103 and the ribbon releasing shaft. Specifically, the elastic abutment mechanism 30 includes a main body 31, and mounting portions 311 are provided at left and right ends of the main body 31, and the mounting portions 311 can be fastened to the frame 20 by bolts or the like to fix the elastic abutment mechanism 30 to the frame 20. The main body 31 is provided with two upward-tilting elastic arms 32, the two elastic arms 32 are elastically deformable in the up-down direction, the end portions of the two elastic arms 32 are each formed with an abutment surface 321, and the two abutment surfaces 321 are capable of making contact with the bottom surface of the lowermost printing sheet, thereby applying force to the stacked printing sheets. In the left-right direction, the positions of the two abutment surfaces 321 are respectively close to the two limiting portions 121, that is, the positions of the two abutment surfaces 321 are closer to the left and right side edges of the top plate 12, which can concentrate the force applied by the elastic arm 32 to the printing sheet at the positions of the two limiting portions 121; at the same time, the two abutment surfaces 321 are located between the sheet discharge gap 103 and the ribbon release shaft in the front-rear direction, which limits the position of the elastic arm 32 in the front-rear direction, and can concentrate the urging force of the elastic arm 32 on the printing sheet at the positions of the two limiting portions 121.

Because the sheet discharging gap 103 on the consumable support 10 is formed by matching the limiting parts 121 and the guiding parts 111, and a gap 102 with a larger size is formed between the two limiting parts 121, if the elastic arm 32 applies force to the printing sheet too close to the gap 102, the printing sheet will be deformed greatly, the force applying position of the elastic arm 32 is ensured to be concentrated at the limiting parts 121, the printing sheet can be more tightly contacted with the limiting surface 122, the front end of the printing sheet can be kept straight, and the front end of the printing sheet is prevented from being blocked by the first side plate 11 due to sagging of the front end of the printing sheet.

Meanwhile, since the consumable components need to be moved from left to right to be loaded into the loading space of the printer body, the free ends of the elastic arms 32 located at the left side may block the entry of the consumable components, and therefore, the third guiding surfaces 322 inclined from bottom to top from left to right are further provided on the left elastic arms 32, and the third guiding surfaces 322 guide the consumable components to reach above the abutment surfaces 321 without being blocked by the free ends of the elastic arms 32. Of course, for convenience of forming, the free end of the right-hand resilient arm 32 may also be provided with a corresponding bevel, not described here.

The elastic supporting mechanism 40 plays a main pushing role for the printing sheet, and mainly includes a rotating member 41 and a torsion spring 42. The rotating member 41 is rotatably mounted at the bottom of the frame 20 through a pivot shaft, and both ends of the torsion spring 42 act on the frame 20 and the rotating member 41, and the torsion spring 42 can drive the rotating member 41 to form an upward rotation tendency. The rotating member 41 is located at the rear of the elastic abutting mechanism 30 and is located at a middle position of the sheet accommodating groove 104 in the front-rear direction, and an upward supporting surface 411 is disposed on the rotating member 41, and the supporting surface 411 can apply upward force to the printing sheet, so that the upper surface of the printing sheet on the uppermost layer can be tightly attached to the lower surface of the top plate 12, and after the printing sheet on the uppermost layer completely leaves the sheet accommodating groove 104, the printing sheet on the original next layer can be tightly attached to the lower surface of the top plate 12 under the action of the elastic supporting mechanism 40, so that the sheet driving mechanism can drive the printing sheet to move. Meanwhile, the left end of the rotating member 41 is provided with a fourth guide surface 412, and the fourth guide surface 412 is inclined from bottom to top from left to right, so that a guide effect can be achieved on the consumable component in the process that the consumable component enters the loading space.

The thermal sublimation printer provided by the invention comprises a consumable component and a printer body, wherein a consumable bracket 10 of the consumable component is provided with a containing sheet groove 104, the containing sheet groove 104 is downwards opened, a printing sheet can enter the containing sheet groove 104 from the opening of the containing sheet groove 104, and when the consumable component is contained in a loading space in the printer body, an elastic abutting mechanism 30 abuts against the bottom of the printing sheet and applies a force towards the top wall of the containing sheet groove 104 to the printing sheet; the consumable support 10 is further used for installing a ribbon supply reel 52 and a ribbon release shaft, the ribbon can be loaded on the ribbon supply reel 52 and the ribbon release shaft, the ribbon supply reel 52 actively operates to drive the ribbon to move, the ribbon release shaft releases the ribbon when the ribbon moves, and the ribbon supply reel 52 is arranged in front of the ribbon release shaft so as to ensure that the direction of a printing sheet leaving the sheet containing groove 104 is consistent with the moving direction of the ribbon; the sheet discharging gap 103 is arranged on the sheet containing groove 104, the size of the sheet discharging gap 103 is limited to enable only one printing sheet to pass through, so that other printing sheets below are not driven to leave the sheet containing groove 104 when the printing sheet on the uppermost layer moves away from the sheet containing groove 104, and the sheet discharging gap 103 is positioned between the ribbon take-up shaft 52 and the ribbon release shaft, so that the moving distance of the printing sheet reaching the printing mechanism can be reduced, and the whole structure of the printer is more compact; in addition, two limiting parts 121 are arranged at the front end of the sheet containing groove 104, the two limiting parts 121 are arranged left and right in a separated manner and are used for forming the upper wall of the sheet outlet gap 103, so that the effect of avoiding the deviation of the size of the sheet outlet gap 103 can be achieved, because the consumable support 10 is generally made of plastic materials, if the parts of the two limiting parts 121 forming the upper wall of the sheet outlet gap 103 are not separated, deformation easily occurs to cause the size of the sheet outlet gap 103 to change, and further, a printing sheet cannot leave the sheet containing groove 104 from the sheet outlet gap 103; meanwhile, the propping positions of the two elastic arms 32 of the elastic propping mechanism 30 are respectively close to the two limiting parts 121, so that the printing sheet can be guaranteed to be clung to the top wall of the sheet containing groove 104 at the position close to the sheet outlet gap 103, the front end of the printing sheet is prevented from sagging, and the printing sheet at the uppermost layer can smoothly pass through the sheet outlet gap 103.

The foregoing description of the embodiments and description is presented to illustrate the scope of the invention, but is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Modifications, equivalents, and other improvements to the embodiments of the invention or portions of the features disclosed herein, as may occur to persons skilled in the art upon use of the invention or the teachings of the embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the invention, as may be desired by persons skilled in the art from a logical analysis, reasoning, or limited testing, in combination with the common general knowledge and/or knowledge of the prior art.

Claims (9)

1. A thermal sublimation printer, comprising:

a consumable assembly comprising a consumable support (10), a ribbon take-up spool (52), a ribbon release spool, a ribbon and a print sheet; the ribbon take-up spool (52) and the ribbon release spool are used for loading the ribbon and are arranged on the consumable support (10) in parallel with each other, and the ribbon take-up spool (52) is positioned in front of the ribbon release spool; the consumable support (10) is provided with a sheet containing groove (104) which is downwards opened and used for containing the printing sheets, the front end of the sheet containing groove (104) is provided with a sheet outlet gap (103) which is positioned between the ribbon winding shaft (52) and the ribbon releasing shaft, and the sheet outlet gap (103) is configured to be suitable for only allowing a single printing sheet to pass through; limiting parts (121) are respectively arranged at the left side and the right side of the front end of the sheet accommodating groove (104), and the two limiting parts (121) form the upper wall of the sheet discharging gap (103) and are arranged in a separated mode along the left-right direction; and

a printer body including a frame (20), a printing mechanism, and an elastic abutment mechanism (30); the printing mechanism is accommodated in the frame (20) and is matched with the frame (20) to form a loading space suitable for accommodating the consumable component; the elastic abutting mechanism (30) is fixedly connected to the bottom of the frame (20) and provided with two elastic arms (32), the two elastic arms (32) are suitable for abutting against the bottom of the printing sheet when the consumable component is located in the loading space, and the abutting positions are respectively close to the two limiting parts (121).

2. A thermal sublimation printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two resilient arms (32) of the resilient abutment mechanism (30) are configured and adapted to be positioned so that they abut the print sheet between the sheet exit gap (103) and the ribbon release shaft.

3. A thermal sublimation printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing mechanism comprises a thermal head (61) and a print roller (62) arranged opposite from top to bottom, both configured and adapted to pass the ribbon and the print sheet therebetween, and both located between the take-up gap (103) and the ribbon take-up spool (52).

4. A thermal sublimation printer according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the front end of the sheet receiving groove (104) is provided with two guide portions (111) corresponding to the two limit portions (121) on the left and right sides; the two guide parts (111) form the lower wall of the sheet discharging gap (103) and are provided with a first guide surface (1110) for guiding the printing sheet to leave the sheet accommodating groove (104) from the sheet discharging gap (103); the first guide surface (1110) extends obliquely from bottom to top toward front.

5. A thermal sublimation printer according to claim 4, wherein the guide portion (111) is provided with a bearing surface (1111) facing upwards and engaged with the first guide surface (1110), and the limit portion (121) is provided with a limit surface (122) facing downwards; the distance between the bearing surface (1111) and the limiting surface (122) in the corresponding guide part (111) and limiting part (121) in the up-down direction is larger than or equal to the thickness of a single printing sheet and smaller than the thickness of two printing sheets.

6. A thermal sublimation printer according to claim 5, wherein the consumable support (10) is provided with a top plate (12) and a first side plate (11) which cooperate to define at least part of the space in the sheet receiving slot (104), the top plate (12) being located in an upper portion of the sheet receiving slot (104), the first side plate (11) being located in a front portion of the sheet receiving slot (104); the limiting part (121) is arranged at the front end of the top plate (12), the guide part (111) is arranged on the first side plate (11), and the front edge of the limiting part (121) is positioned behind the bearing surface (1111) of the guide part (111).

7. A thermal sublimation printer according to claim 6, wherein a notch (102) is formed in the front edge of the top plate (12) and is configured to separate the two limiting portions (121) in the left-right direction, the rear edge of the notch (102) is located between the sheet outlet gap (103) and the ribbon releasing shaft, and two limiting portions (121) are respectively located on the left and right sides of the notch (102).

8. A thermal sublimation printer according to claim 7, wherein the portion of the first side plate (11) corresponding to the notch (102) in the right-left direction is provided with a second guide surface (113), and the second guide surface (113) extends obliquely from bottom to top forward and has a larger inclination angle than the first guide surface (1110).

9. A thermal sublimation printer as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a sheet driving mechanism; an operation opening (105) which penetrates up and down is arranged at the rear part of the ribbon releasing shaft on the top plate (12); the operation opening (105) is used for exposing the printing sheet above the top plate (12) so that the sheet driving mechanism drives the printing sheet to move.