JP4884062B2 - Ink ribbon identification device for printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink ribbon discriminating apparatus used for a printing apparatus, a copying apparatus, and the like.

  As a conventional ink ribbon discriminating device, the type of ink ribbon is discriminated based on an ink bobbin shape around which the ink ribbon is wound or an optical or magnetic identification mark arranged on the ink bobbin (for example, see Patent Document 1). There is. In addition, there is an apparatus that discriminates the type of ink ribbon by using an identification mark on the ink ribbon surface and a reflector on the ink bobbin axis (for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-36458 (2nd page, Fig. 1) JP-A-9-202027 (page 5, FIG. 1)

  In the conventional ink ribbon discriminating apparatus as described above, when the number of types of ink ribbons increases, there is a problem that the identification mark arranged on the ink bobbin or the ink bobbin or the identification mark on the ink ribbon surface becomes complicated. It was. In addition, there is a problem in that it is necessary to dispose an identification mark dedicated to type discrimination on the ink ribbon surface in addition to the dye application region.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and can be used even if there are many types of ink ribbons, and it is not necessary to place identification marks on the ink ribbon surface. The purpose is to obtain a discrimination device.

  An ink ribbon discriminating apparatus for a printer according to the present invention uses the both ends of a winding shaft of an ink ribbon to supply the supply bobbin having identification information corresponding to the type of the ink ribbon when the printer is mounted on the printer. A first sensor for detecting identification information provided on one end of the bobbin, a second sensor for detecting identification information provided on the other end of the supply bobbin, and the first and second sensors And a discriminating means for discriminating the type of the wound ink ribbon based on the detection result of the sensor.

  In the present invention, since the identification information corresponding to the type of the ink ribbon is provided by using both ends of the winding shaft of the supply bobbin, there is no need to arrange a dedicated identification mark on the ink ribbon surface, In addition, the bobbin shape is simplified. Furthermore, since identification information corresponding to the type of ink ribbon is provided using both ends of the supply bobbin, even if the number of types of ink ribbon increases, a wide variety of types of ink ribbons can be discriminated by combining them.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 to 3 are views conceptually showing the main part of an ink ribbon discriminating apparatus for a thermal transfer printer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a supply bobbin around which an ink ribbon is wound, In the top view which shows a kind, (a)-(d) has shown the variation on an external appearance. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an ink ribbon cassette that can hold a selected desired supply bobbin, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example. In the figure, the supply bobbin 3 is for glossy type color printing, a supply bobbin 3A having a length of 12 inches for each color for one page (one screen), a supply bobbin 3B for black and white printing having a length of 12 inches, and a half. Supply bobbin 3C for glossy color printing and 12 inches long, supply bobbin 3D for glossy color printing and 14 inches in length, and supply 14 inches long for semi-gloss color printing There are variations of the bobbin 3E, and the appearances of the supply bobbins 3A and 3B are the same as shown in FIG.

  Each of the supply bobbins 3 shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D includes a cylindrical winding shaft 31, a belt-like ink ribbon 32 wound around the central portion in the left-right direction of the winding shaft 31, and a winding The first display unit 1 and the second display unit 2 that provide identification information corresponding to the types of ink ribbons provided on the drive unit 33 side and the support unit 34 side of the shaft 31 are provided. And the dimensions of the drive part 33 and the support part 34 are the same. The ink ribbon 32A wound around the supply bobbin 3A for color printing is composed of three colors of yellow, magenta and cyan and a gloss type overcoat portion for protecting the printing surface, and these are in series in the longitudinal direction. The screens are arranged in a cyclic manner, and printing of one screen is completed by printing these one set of each color and overcoat portion four times in order.

  On the other hand, the ink ribbon 32B of the supply bobbin 3B for black-and-white printing is arranged in series and cyclically in the longitudinal direction in the same manner, with the black and glossy type overcoat portions as one set. Is printed twice in order to complete the printing of one screen. As shown in FIG. 1A, no reflecting member is attached to the first display unit 1 and the second display unit 2 of the supply bobbin 3A and the supply bobbin 3B. On the other hand, the ink ribbon 32C wound around the supply bobbin 3C for color printing shown in FIG. 1B has the same configuration for the three colors of the ink ribbon 32A, and the overcoat portion is a semi-gloss type. Yes. A light reflecting member 4 is affixed to the second display unit 2.

  Further, the ink ribbon 32D wound around the color printing supply bobbin 3D shown in FIG. 1C has the same configuration as the three colors of the ink ribbon 32A and the overcoat portion, and each length is 14 inches. The light reflecting member 4 is affixed to the first display unit 1. Further, the ink ribbon 32E wound around the color printing supply bobbin 3E shown in FIG. 1 (d) has the same configuration as the three colors of the ink ribbon 32C and the overcoat portion, and each length is 14 inches. The light reflecting member 4 is affixed to each of the first display unit 1 and the second display unit 2.

  On the other hand, the ink ribbon cassette 5 includes a supply bobbin holding unit 51 that holds an arbitrary supply bobbin 3 selected from the supply bobbins 3A to 3E, and a winding bobbin holding unit that holds a winding bobbin (not shown). 52, both the supply bobbin 3 and the take-up bobbin have the drive side facing the left side (the side labeled “L”) and the support side facing the right (the side labeled “R”). The ink ribbon cassette 5 is rotatably held by being attached to a predetermined portion. In the vicinity of both end portions in the axial direction of the supply bobbin holding portion 51, a position corresponding to the first display portion 1 and the second display portion 2 provided on the supply bobbin 3 is connected to a printer (not shown). A first hole 61 for detection by the first sensor provided and a second hole 62 for detection by the second sensor are provided.

  The first sensor and the second sensor provided in the printer are each provided with a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode or a laser diode (not shown) and a light receiving element such as a photodiode. When the ink ribbon cassette 5 is attached to a predetermined portion of the printer, the first and second display portions 1 and 2 of the supply bobbin 3 pass through the first and second holes 61 and 62 of the ink ribbon cassette 5 and the light emitting elements. Light is irradiated and the reflected light is received by a light receiving element, and for example, the presence or absence of the reflecting member 4 is detected from the intensity of the reflected light.

  The printer holds the winding shaft 31 and the winding bobbin of the supply bobbin 3 in the forward direction or in the rewinding direction, the driving means for rotating in the rewinding direction, the paper feed / discharge means for printing paper, and the ink ribbon. A drawing head for transferring the dye ink to the printing paper is provided. Further, means for controlling the driving means to cue the dye application region of the ink ribbon, a color discrimination sensor for discriminating the dye color of the ink ribbon drawn from the supply bobbin, the color discrimination sensor, the first and A discriminating means for discriminating the type of the ink ribbon 32 based on the detection result of the second sensor is provided. Since these are techniques well known to those skilled in the art and can be used without any particular limitation, illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  Next, the operation of the ink ribbon discriminating apparatus of the printer configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. After starting the operation in step S1, first, the ink application area of the ink ribbon is cued in step S2, and the presence or absence of an overcoat (OP layer) is detected in step S3 based on the detection result of a color discrimination sensor (not shown). To do. If it cannot be detected (No), it is determined as a non-standard ink ribbon in step S4. If overcoat is detected (Yes), the presence or absence of yellow (Y) is detected by the color discrimination sensor in step S5. If not detected (No), the presence or absence of black (K) is detected in step S6. If black (K) is detected (Yes), it is determined as a black and white ink ribbon (K + L) in step S7. If black (K) is not detected in step S6 (No), it is determined in step S8 that the ribbon is finished or the ribbon is not attached.

  If yellow (Y) is detected in step S5 (Yes), the presence or absence of the reflecting member 4 of the drive side mark is detected by a first sensor (not shown) in step S9. If not detected (No), the presence or absence of the reflecting member 4 of the support side mark is detected by the second sensor in step S10. If the reflecting member 4 of the support side mark is detected (Yes), it is determined as a semi-gloss type with a printing length of 12 inches in step S11. If the reflecting member 4 of the support side mark cannot be detected in step S10 (No), it is determined that the gloss type is a printing length of 12 inches in step S12. Even when the reflecting member 4 of the driving side mark is detected in Step S9 (Yes), the presence or absence of the reflecting member 4 of the supporting side mark is detected by the second sensor in Step S13. If the reflecting member 4 of the support side mark is detected (Yes), it is determined as a semi-gloss type with a printing length of 14 inches in step S14. If the supporting member reflecting member 4 is not detected in step S13 (No), it is determined in step S15 that the gloss type has a print length of 14 inches.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the printer is equipped with the reflecting member provided with the identification information corresponding to the type of the ink ribbon 32 using the both ends of the winding shaft 31 of the supply bobbin 3. Since the type of the ink ribbon 32 is discriminated in combination with the color discrimination sensor, the five types of supply bobbins 3 (3A to 3E) can be easily discriminated. Further, the reflection member 4 as an identification mark can be easily provided by using, for example, the ink ribbon 32 of the existing winding shaft 31 and the space portion at the end. Therefore, it is not necessary to arrange a dedicated identification mark on the surface of the ink ribbon 32, and the bobbin shape is simplified and the effect of being easily stored in the ink ribbon cassette 5 can be obtained. In this way, by automatically identifying the type of the ink ribbon 32 wound around the supply bobbin 3 before printing, an optimum print result can be obtained without setting by the user.

  In the first embodiment, in addition to the first and second sensors, the color discrimination sensor provided in the printer is used to determine the five types of supply bobbins. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is not something. For example, when the number of types of the supply bobbins 3 is four or less, the determination may be performed using only the first and second sensors without using the color determination sensor. Further, the identification information shown in the first and second display units 1 and 2 is not limited to a display corresponding to 1 bit depending on the presence or absence of reflection. For example, a reflection / absorption (scattering) region such as a barcode is combined in the circumferential direction. By providing a display corresponding to a plurality of bits, a wider variety of supply bobbins can be discriminated by a combination of left and right. Further, instead of reflecting light, for example, a slit-like one using light transmission, or one using magnetism may be used.

  Further, the supply bobbin 3 is provided with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag in which ink ribbon type information is recorded. When the supply bobbin 3 is attached to a predetermined part of the printer or close to the printer, the RFID tag The type of the ink ribbon may be determined by reading the information. Further, although the case where the supply bobbin 3 is set in the printer via the ink ribbon cassette 5 has been described, the same effect can be expected even when the supply bobbin 3 is directly set in the printer without using the ink ribbon cassette 5. Furthermore, the position where the reflecting member 4 is provided may be at both ends of the supply bobbin 3, and is not particularly limited to the example of the embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a plan view conceptually showing a supply bobbin around which an ink ribbon is wound, which is a main part of an ink ribbon discriminating device for a printer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and (a) to (d) are external views. The above variation is shown. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an ink ribbon cassette that can hold the supply bobbin of FIG. 1. The flowchart which shows the operation example of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st display part, 2nd display part, 3 (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E) Supply bobbin, 31 Winding axis | shaft, 32 (32A, 32B, 32C, 32D, 32E) Ink ribbon, 33 Drive unit, 34 support unit, 4 reflecting member, 5 ink ribbon cassette, 51 supply bobbin holding unit, 52 take-up bobbin holding unit, 61 first hole, 62 second hole.

Claims (4)

  When the supply bobbin having the identification information corresponding to the type of the ink ribbon is attached to the printer using both ends of the winding shaft of the ink ribbon, the identification information provided on the one end side of the supply bobbin is displayed. The first sensor to detect, the second sensor to detect the identification information provided on the other end side of the supply bobbin, and the above-described winding based on the detection results of these first and second sensors An ink ribbon discriminating apparatus for a printer, comprising: discriminating means for discriminating the type of ink ribbon.   When the supply bobbin is attached to the printer, the printer further comprises a color discrimination sensor that pulls out the wound ink ribbon from the supply bobbin and detects the color of the ink ribbon, and the discrimination means includes the color discrimination sensor. 2. The ink ribbon discriminating apparatus for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the type of the ink ribbon is discriminated based on the detection result of the sensor and the detection results of the first and second sensors.   3. The printer ink ribbon discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are optical sensors.   3. The printer ink ribbon determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are magnetic sensors.

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