JPH05345471A - Thermal transfer printer and method for controlling and driving the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a thermal transfer printer capable of properly performing both of release printing at the time of heating and release printing at the time of cooling by changing the take-up force of an ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:A take-up bobbin 7 taking up an ink ribbon 14 after printing is arranged on the carriage 5 made freely reciprocally movable along a platen 2 and a second take-up bobbin 40 for obtaining peel force peeling off the ink ribbon 14 after printing from paper is arranged between the printing part due to a thermal head 6 and the take-up bobbin 7 and the take-up quantity of the ink ribbon 14 due to the second take-up bobbin 40 is made less than that of the ink ribbon 14 due to the taking-up bobbin 7. The taking-up quantity of the ink ribbon 14 due to the second take-up bobbin 40 is changed between release printing at the time of heating and that at the time of cooling.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer and its drive control method, and more particularly to printing by hot peeling and cold peeling depending on the type of ink ribbon by selectively operating a peeling roller. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer that can be performed and a drive control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer, in which a platen 2 having a flat plate shape is arranged at a substantially central portion of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is arranged in parallel to the platen 2 below the front side of the platen 2 of the frame 1. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed on the front edge of the frame 1, and a carriage 5 reciprocates on the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. It is movably attached. The leading end of the carriage 5 faces the platen 2,
A thermal head 6 which is movable to and from the platen 2 by a drive mechanism (not shown) is attached, and an ink ribbon is housed inside the carriage 5 on the upper surface thereof. A ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between the platen 2 and the platen 2 is detachably attached. Further, the carriage 5
A winding bobbin 7 for winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette and a delivery bobbin 8 for delivering the ink ribbon are disposed on the upper surface of the.

A sheet insertion port 9 for feeding a sheet (not shown) to the front of the platen 2 is formed in the rear of the platen 2, and the sheet insertion port 9 has a predetermined speed at the portion. A paper feed roller 10 that conveys a paper is provided. Below the paper feed roller 10, a pressure contact roller 11 which is brought into pressure contact with the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably arranged, and the paper feed roller is provided with a transmission gear group 12 on one side surface of the frame. A paper feed motor 13 that is driven to rotate is provided. Then, by driving the paper feed motor 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 10, the paper inserted between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11 is pinched and conveyed from the paper insertion opening 9. It is designed to do.

In the conventional printer, a sheet is inserted through the sheet insertion port 9, the sheet is sandwiched between the sheet feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11, and the sheet feed motor 13 drives the sheet feed roller 10. By rotating and driving, the paper is conveyed at a predetermined speed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5. On the other hand, while the thermal head 6 is pressed against the paper with a predetermined pressing force, the carriage 5 is moved and the winding bobbin 7 is moved.
Is rotated to wind the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette, and the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal to perform desired printing on the paper.

By the way, there are various kinds of recording papers used for printing, for example, plain paper which is a general recording paper, and a light-transmissive plastic sheet used for an overhead projector (OHP). Consisting of OHP
With respect to paper, different types of ink ribbons are used for printing.

For example, as an ink ribbon 14 used for printing on plain paper, as shown in FIG. 4A, a base material 1 made of a resin film such as polyethylene terephthalate is used.
An ink layer 16 formed by mixing a dye such as carbon and a resin is laminated on the surface of No. 5, and an overcoat layer 17 made of a highly viscous material such as polyamide is further laminated on the surface of the ink layer 16. It is configured by
Further, as another example of the ink ribbon 14, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, between the base material 15 and the ink layer 16,
It is configured by interposing a heat-soluble release layer 18 made of wax.

When printing is performed on plain paper using such an ink ribbon 14, the thermal head 6 is driven so that the ink layer 16 at the melted portion of the ink ribbon 14 is still in a high temperature state. When the ink layer 16 is in a semi-molten state and the cohesive force between the ink layers 16 is small, the ink ribbon 14 is peeled off from the plain paper under heat. Therefore, it is necessary to make the distance between the print portion of the thermal head 6 and the peeling portion of the ink ribbon 14 as short as possible.

On the other hand, as an example of the ink ribbon 14 used for printing on the OHP paper, as shown in FIG. 4C, carbon and wax are mixed on the surface of a base material 15 made of a resin film. The ink layer 16 is formed by stacking the layers.

When printing on OHP paper using such an ink ribbon 14, the thermal head 6 is driven to cool and solidify the ink layer 16 at the melted portion, and then the ink ribbon 14 is removed. Cold peeling is performed so that the surface of the ink transferred from the OHP sheet is smoothed. Therefore, the printing portion by the thermal head 6 and the ink ribbon 14
It is necessary to configure so that the distance from the peeling part of the is as long as possible.

In this way, printing on plain paper and OHP
Since the position where the ink ribbon 14 is peeled off from the recording paper is different from the printing on the paper, it is different from plain paper and O
In a thermal transfer printer capable of printing both HP sheets, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a peeling roller 19 for varying the peeling position of the ink ribbon 14 is provided.

That is, on the upper surface of the carriage 5 and on the downstream side of the thermal head 6 in the running direction of the ink ribbon 14, a driving device (not shown) such as a solenoid is operated to rotate between a solid line position and a broken line position. Peeling lever 20
Is provided, and at the tip of this peeling lever 20,
On the downstream side of the thermal head 6 in the running direction of the ink ribbon 14, a peeling roller 19 made of sponge or the like that comes into contact with and separates from the ink ribbon 14 is formed to project upward.

When the peeling lever 20 is moved to the position shown by the solid line in the figure, the peeling roller 19 is pressed against the ink ribbon 14 close to the platen 2, and the ink ribbon 14 is peeled from the recording paper. When the peeling lever 20 is moved to the position indicated by the broken line in the figure, the ink layer of the ink ribbon 14 is cooled and solidified before peeling off the ink ribbon 14 from the recording paper. Further, since the peeling roller 19 is separated from the ink ribbon 14 and positioned in the ribbon cassette 21, the ink ribbon 14 is immediately peeled from the recording paper as the thermal head 6 passes, and the ink of the ink ribbon 14 is discharged. When the layer 16 is still in a molten state, the ink ribbon 14 is peeled off from the recording paper by thermal peeling. .

[0013]

However, in such a conventional thermal transfer printer, hot peeling printing and cold peeling are performed only by operating the peeling lever to drive the peeling roller to and from the platen. Since printing is controlled by switching between printing and printing, there is not much problem in the case of hot peeling printing, but when performing cold peeling printing, the same strong winding force as in hot peeling printing is used. Since the ink ribbon is wound up, the peeling roller is separated from the platen due to the attachment of the peeling lever or the deformation of the sponge of the peeling roller. However, there is a problem that it is impossible to secure a sufficient distance to peel off the ink ribbon, and it is impossible to perform proper cold peeling printing.

Further, if the winding force of the ink ribbon is set to be weak, proper cold peeling printing can be carried out. There is a problem that a sufficient peeling force cannot be obtained or the peeling timing is delayed, and in this case, proper peeling printing at the time of heat cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and by changing the winding force of the ink ribbon,
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer and a drive control method therefor capable of properly performing both hot peel printing and cold peel printing.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention has a thermal head arranged on a carriage which can reciprocate along a platen, and an ink ribbon on the upper surface of the carriage. And a first winding mechanism for winding the printed ink ribbon on the carriage, and a printing section and the first winding by the thermal head. The second for obtaining a peeling force for peeling the printed ink ribbon from the paper between the mechanism and the mechanism.
And the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is smaller than the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism. Preferably, the first winding mechanism and the second winding mechanism are driven by the same drive source.

The thermal transfer printer drive control method according to the present invention further includes a thermal head disposed on a carriage that can reciprocate along the platen, and a ribbon cassette in which an ink ribbon is housed on the upper surface of the carriage. And a first winding mechanism for winding the printed ink ribbon on the carriage, and between the printing unit by the thermal head and the first winding mechanism. The amount of the ink ribbon wound by the second winding mechanism of the thermal transfer printer provided with the second winding mechanism for obtaining the peeling force for peeling the ink ribbon after printing from the paper is When it is formed so as to be smaller than the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the winding mechanism of No. 1, and when the cold peeling ink ribbon is used as the ink ribbon, The winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is smaller than the moving amount of the carriage, and the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism is larger than the moving amount of the carriage. When the hot peeling ink ribbon is used as the ink ribbon, the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is controlled to be larger than the movement amount of the carriage. It is characterized by.

[0018]

According to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the carriage is provided with the first winding mechanism and the second winding mechanism,
By the second winding mechanism, a peeling force for peeling the ink ribbon after printing from the paper is obtained, and moreover, the winding amount of the second winding mechanism is set to the winding amount of the first winding mechanism. Since it is formed so as to be smaller than the take-up amount, by controlling the take-up amount by the second take-up mechanism with respect to the movement amount of the carriage, each ink ribbon for hot peeling and cold peeling is controlled. It is possible to obtain an appropriate peeling force according to the type of.

Further, according to the drive control method of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, when the cold peeling ink ribbon is used as the ink ribbon, the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is set to the carriage amount. Since the amount of movement of the ink ribbon is controlled to be greater than the amount of movement of the carriage while the amount of movement of the ink ribbon is controlled to be smaller than the amount of movement of the ink ribbon, Almost no tension is applied to the ribbon, and even if the peeling lever is attached or the sponge of the peeling roller is deformed, the peeling roller does not separate from the platen and the ribbon is cooled properly. When the ink ribbon for hot peeling can be used as the ink ribbon,
Since the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is controlled to be larger than the moving amount of the carriage, the winding operation by the second winding mechanism is appropriate for the ink ribbon. Tension is applied,
Peeling printing can be performed with heat with a sufficient peeling force.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, which is reciprocally movable along a platen 2 via a drive belt 22 by driving a carriage drive motor (not shown). A head contact / separation motor 23 for contacting / separating the thermal head 6 to / from the platen 2 is arranged on the carriage 5, and a transmission gear 25 is meshed with an output pinion gear 24 of the head contact / separation motor 23. ing. A gear portion 27 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cam 26 is meshed with the transmission gear 25, and a head contact / separation cam groove 28 is formed on the upper surface of the cam 26.

A support shaft 29 is provided near the platen 2 of the carriage 5. In the present embodiment, the support shaft 29 is located on the upper surface of the carriage 5 as shown in FIG. It is formed so as to project. A substantially T-shaped head lever 30 is attached to the support shaft 29 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 29.
A head mount 31 facing the platen 2 is fixed to a portion of the head lever 30 near the platen 2 by screwing. Platen 2 of this head mount 31
The thermal head 6 is mounted on the opposing surface of the head mounting base 31, and a stopper 32 is provided on the head mounting base 31 so as to protrude from the back surface of the head mounting base 31 by a predetermined distance.

Further, a substantially L-shaped head pressure contact lever 33 is attached to the support shaft 29 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 29.
The head contact / separation cam groove 28 of the cam 26 is provided at one end of the
A pin 34 that is engaged with the. The other end of the head pressure contact lever 33 is disposed between the back surface of the head mount 31 of the head lever 30 and the stopper 32. The other end of the head pressure contact lever 33 has a spring holding portion 35. Is erected. Further, the spring holding portion 3
A strong pressure contact spring 36 is interposed between the head mounting base 31 and the head mounting base 31, and the head pressure contact lever 33 is brought into contact with the stopper 32 of the head lever 30 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 36. The head pressure contact lever 33 and the head lever 30 are integrally rotated by the rotation of the cam 26 when the head is moved up and down. Further, a spring support pin 37 is provided on the carriage 5 in a protruding manner, and a weak pressure contact spring 38 having a spring pressure weaker than that of the strong pressure contact spring 36 is provided between the spring support pin 37 and the head lever 30. The head lever 30 is bridged so as to always apply an urging force in a direction of pressing the thermal head 6 against the platen 2.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 5 is provided with a take-up bobbin 7 and a delivery bobbin 8 for the ink ribbon 14 as a first take-up mechanism. As shown, a winding gear 39 is coaxially attached below the winding bobbin 7 via a friction mechanism (not shown). Further, in the present embodiment, the carriage 5 is provided with a second winding bobbin 40 as a second winding mechanism, and a second winding bobbin 40 is provided below the second winding bobbin 40. The take-up gear 41 is coaxially attached via a friction mechanism (not shown). The carriage 5 is provided with a transmission gear 42 that meshes with the winding gear 39 and the second winding gear 41, and an output pinion 44 of a winding motor 43 meshes with the transmission gear 42. Has been done. The take-up bobbin 7 and the second take-up bobbin 40 are driven to rotate by the take-up motor 43 via the output pinion 44 and the transmission gear 42, respectively.

A peeling lever 20 is rotatably attached to the rotary shaft of the second winding bobbin 40 so as to be urged in a direction of separating from the platen 2 by a spring (not shown). A peeling roller 19 made of sponge or the like is provided at the tip of the so as to project upward. The peeling lever 20 is driven to move toward and away from the platen 2 by a solenoid (not shown) or the like.
When the ribbon cassette 21 storing
By operating the solenoid, the peeling lever 20 is rotated so that the peeling roller 19 contacts the platen 2.

Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a photo sensor 4 for detecting the end of the ink ribbon to be used and a color marker of the color ink ribbon.
5 are provided.

A ribbon cassette 21 accommodating the ink ribbon 14 is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the carriage 5, and the winding bobbin 7 and the delivery bobbin are attached to the ribbon cassette 21. 8, a pair of hubs 46 engaged with the ink ribbon 14 to wind the ink ribbon 14,
46 is provided. In addition, the ribbon cassette 21
Is provided with a guide roller 47 that is engaged with the second take-up bobbin 40 and guides the ink ribbon 14, and the thermal head 6 is inserted in the central portion of the ribbon cassette 21 on the platen 2 side. A concave portion 48 is formed. Further, the recess 4 of the ribbon cassette 21
A cutout portion 49 into which the peeling roller 19 is inserted is formed at a position on one side of 8.

A detection switch 50 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon 14 stored in the ribbon cassette 21 is arranged on the upper surface of the carriage 5, and the detection switch 50 is turned on and off. ON / OFF operation of the solenoid and the winding motor 4
The switching of the drive control of No. 3 is performed.
For example, as the ribbon cassette 21, two types are prepared: a ribbon cassette 21 containing the ink ribbon 14 for cold peeling and a ribbon cassette 21 containing the ink ribbon 14 for hot peeling. Make a recess (not shown) in the bottom of the ribbon cassette that contains the ink ribbon for hot peeling, and keep the bottom of the ribbon cassette that contains the ink ribbon for cold peeling flat. Therefore, when the ribbon cassette of the hot peeling ink ribbon is mounted on the carriage 5, the detection switch 50 remains OFF, and when the cold peeling ink ribbon ribbon cassette is mounted. The detection switch 50 is turned on.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, when the ribbon cassette 21 accommodating the ink ribbon 14 for hot peeling is mounted on the carriage 5 to perform normal printing on plain paper or the like, the head contact / separation motor 23 is driven to drive the cam. By rotating 26 to the right, the head pressure contact lever 33 is swung to the right, and along with this, the head lever 30 is also swung together via the strong pressure contact spring 36. As a result, the head pressing lever 33 is separated from the stopper 32 of the head mount 31,
The head holder 31 is pressed by the spring holding portion 35 of the head pressure contact lever 33 via the strong pressure contact spring 36. In this state, since the biasing force of the weak pressure contact spring 38 is applied to the head lever 30, the biasing force of the strong pressure contact spring 36 and the biasing force of the weak pressure contact spring 38 are summed to the head mount 31. The pressing force is applied, and the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 with a strong pressing force.

At this time, the ribbon cassette 2 for peeling at the time of heating
Since the concave portion is formed in No. 1, the detection switch 50 of the carriage 5 is not pushed, the detection switch 50 remains OFF, the solenoid is not operated, and as a result, the peeling lever 20 is rotated. Instead, the peeling roller 19 is held at the same position.

In this state, the carriage drive motor is driven to move the carriage 5 via the drive belt 22, and the winding motor 43 is driven to transfer the winding bobbin 7 and the second bobbin via the transmission gear 42. While the winding bobbin 40 is rotationally driven to wind the ink ribbon 14 of the ribbon cassette 21, the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal to print on a predetermined sheet. .. At this time, since the thermal head 6 is pressed with a strong pressing force, good printing can be performed.

In this case, in this embodiment, by controlling the drive frequency of the winding motor 43 to be higher, the winding amount of the second winding bobbin 40 becomes larger than the moving amount of the carriage 5. The winding amount is set to 1 with respect to the moving amount of the carriage 5, for example.
By setting it to about 05 to 110%, the ink ribbon 14 is always wound with a tension, and
The ink ribbon 14 can be peeled off from the paper with a sufficient peeling force.

Next, when the ribbon cassette 21 accommodating the cold peeling ink ribbon 14 is mounted on the carriage 5 to print on OHP paper, the head contact / separation motor 23 is driven to drive the cam 26. By rotating
The head pressure contact lever 33 is swung rightward together with the head lever 30, and the pin 34 of the head pressure contact lever 33 is located at the innermost peripheral portion of the head contact / separation cam groove 28. Is formed to have a large width, a gap is formed between the pin 34 of the head pressure contact lever 33 and the head contact / separation cam groove 28. As a result, the head pressure contact lever 33 is rotated so as to contact the stopper 32 by the biasing force of the strong pressure contact spring 36, so that the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 by the biasing force of only the weak pressure contact spring 38. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing with a weak pressure contact force as compared with the case of normal printing.

Further, since the ribbon cassette 21 accommodating the ink ribbon for cold peeling is not formed with a recess, the detection switch 50 is formed by the bottom surface of the ribbon cassette.
Is turned on to turn on the solenoid, the peeling lever 20 is rotated, the peeling roller 19 is pressed against the platen 2, and the peeling distance of the ink ribbon 14 is increased.

In this state, similarly, the carriage 5 is moved and the winding motor 43 is driven to rotationally drive the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40 via the transmission gear 42, thereby ribbon ribbon cassette. While the ink ribbon 14 of 21 is being wound, the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal to print on a predetermined sheet.

In this case, in the present embodiment, the drive of the winding motor is switched by the ON operation of the detection switch 50, and the driving frequency of the winding motor 43 is controlled to be low, whereby the second winding is performed. While the winding amount of the bobbin 40 is smaller than the moving amount of the carriage 5,
The winding amount of the winding bobbin 7 is set to be larger than the movement amount of the carriage 5. In this way, by setting the winding amount of the second winding bobbin 40 to, for example, about 90 to 95% of the moving amount of the carriage 5, almost no tension is applied to the ink ribbon 14. Therefore, even when the peeling lever 20 is attached or the sponge of the peeling roller 19 is deformed, the peeling roller 19 is not separated from the platen 2. Moreover, by the winding operation by the winding bobbin 7,
The ink ribbon 14 is not loosened, and the winding operation can be performed while applying an appropriate tension to the ink ribbon 14.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the second winding amount of the ink ribbon 14 is smaller than that of the winding bobbin 7.
By providing the winding bobbin 40 and controlling the drive frequency of the winding motor 43, the winding amount of the ink ribbon 14 by the second winding bobbin 40 is changed with respect to the movement amount of the carriage 5. Therefore, when cold peeling printing is performed, it is possible to prevent the peeling roller 19 from separating from the platen 2 and perform proper printing.
In the case of performing hot peeling printing, the ink ribbon 14 can be peeled from the paper with an appropriate peeling force, and proper hot peeling printing can be performed.

Since only the ribbon cassette 21 accommodating the ink ribbon 14 for peeling at the time of heat among the ribbon cassettes 21 is formed with a recess for not operating the detection switch 50, the type of the ink ribbon 14 is different. Accordingly, the drive control of the winding motor can be switched and the peeling lever 20 can be brought into and out of contact.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be variously modified if necessary.

[0041]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer and the drive control method therefor according to the present invention, the second winding mechanism having a small winding amount of the ink ribbon is provided to the first winding mechanism. Since the amount of the ink ribbon taken up by the second take-up mechanism is controlled, it is possible to prevent separation of the peeling roller from the platen and perform proper printing when performing cold peeling printing. In addition, when performing peeling printing at the time of heat, the ink ribbon can be peeled off from the paper with an appropriate peeling force, so that the peeling at the time of proper heat printing can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a carriage portion of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views showing a conventional ink ribbon for hot peeling, and FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional ink ribbon for cold peeling.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a peeling roller structure of a conventional thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 platen 5 carriage 6 thermal head 7 take-up bobbin 14 ink ribbon 19 peeling roller 20 peeling lever 21 ribbon cassette 40 second take-up bobbin 43 take-up motor 50 detection switch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head is disposed on a carriage that can reciprocate along a platen, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the carriage, and the carriage is printed with the print. A first winding mechanism for winding the subsequent ink ribbon is provided, and the ink ribbon after printing is peeled off from the paper between the printing section by the thermal head and the first winding mechanism. A second winding mechanism for obtaining a force is provided so that the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is smaller than the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism. A thermal transfer printer characterized by being formed on. 2. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the first winding mechanism and the second winding mechanism are driven by the same drive source. 3. A thermal head is disposed on a carriage that can reciprocate along a platen, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the carriage, and the printing is performed on the carriage. A first winding mechanism for winding the subsequent ink ribbon is provided, and the ink ribbon after printing is peeled off from the paper between the printing section by the thermal head and the first winding mechanism. In a thermal transfer printer provided with a second winding mechanism for obtaining force, the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is determined by the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism. When the cold peeling ink ribbon is used as the ink ribbon, the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is The ink ribbon for hot peeling is used as the ink ribbon while controlling the amount of ink ribbon winding by the first winding mechanism to be larger than the amount of carriage movement while making it smaller than the carriage moving amount. In this case, the drive control method of the thermal transfer printer is characterized in that the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is controlled to be larger than the moving amount of the carriage.