JP2001322303A - Thermal transfer printer and method for rewinding ink ribbon of this thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer printer in which an ink ribbon of a multi-time ribbon is rewound by reversing a ribbon roller by the number of revolution smaller than the number of revolution thereof when winding the ink ribbon of a part provided to print one line every time one line is printed by the thermal transfer printer which can detect the number of revolution of the ribbon roller rotating in association with winding and rewinding the ink ribbon and a method for rewinding an ink ribbon of this thermal transfer printer. SOLUTION: There is provided a detecting member 11 of an encoder which can detect the number of revolution of the ribbon roller 16e via a roller-driving member 10. The number of revolution of the ribbon roller 16e when winding or rewinding the ink ribbon 17 while a ribbon cassette 16 is loaded to a carriage 7 is detected by the detecting member 11.

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 a method for rewinding an ink ribbon of the thermal transfer printer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer using an ink ribbon composed of a multi-time ribbon capable of printing the same portion a plurality of times. And a method of rewinding the ink ribbon of the thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording medium and an ink ribbon have been supported in front of a platen, and a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements is reciprocated along a platen together with a carriage, while a heating element of the thermal head is moved. By selectively generating heat based on print information, a thermal transfer printer that transfers the ink of the ink ribbon to a recording medium and prints an image such as a desired character or graphic on the recording medium has high print quality and low print quality. Due to noise, low cost, ease of maintenance, and the like, they are often used as output devices for computers and word processors.

[0003] Such an ink ribbon is a one-time ribbon that cannot be used again after one printing from the beginning to the end, so that when the ink ribbon wound on the supply reel is completely used, I had to replace it with a new ribbon cassette containing a new ink ribbon. For this reason, there has been a problem that the consumption amount of the ink ribbon increases and the running cost increases.
In addition, the number of replacements of the ribbon cassette is increased, and the operation is troublesome. Therefore, as one method for reducing the running cost of the ink ribbon, an ink ribbon composed of a multi-time ribbon that can be used for printing the same portion a plurality of times has been proposed. Printing can be performed repeatedly, and the running cost of the ink ribbon can be reduced.

In the ribbon cassette for storing the ink ribbon, the front and rear sides are formed in a symmetrical shape, and the first printing by winding the ink ribbon from the beginning to the end is completed, and the ink ribbon is wound on a take-up reel. When the ribbon cassette is taken out, the ribbon supply side and the ribbon take-up side are reversed by the operator reversing the ribbon cassette and mounting it again on the carriage.

However, the ink ribbon as described above is
Since the ink film is formed thicker than the one-time ribbon, the ribbon length when wound around the supply reel and stored in the ribbon cassette, that is, the area provided for printing is shortened, and the operator frequently inverts the ribbon cassette. And the operation of the thermal transfer printer was cumbersome. As a countermeasure, in the conventional thermal transfer printer, markers are provided at the head and the end of the ink ribbon, and a detection member capable of detecting the markers is formed on the carriage side.

[0006] In such a conventional ink ribbon rewinding method for a thermal transfer printer, when the marker at the end of the multi-time ribbon is detected by the detection means on the carriage side during printing, the ink wound on the take-up reel is detected. Rewind the ribbon on the supply reel. In this rewinding operation, the detecting means on the carriage side detects the marker at the leading end, thereby terminating the rewinding operation, and printing can be repeated again from the leading end of the ink ribbon.

[0007]

However, the conventional thermal transfer printer as described above and the ink ribbon rewinding method using the thermal transfer printer are required to wind the ink ribbon from the beginning to the end by repeating printing. Is completed, the ink ribbon is rewound from the end to the beginning, and printing is resumed from the beginning of the ink ribbon. In such a conventional ink ribbon rewinding method,
It took time to rewind the ink ribbon from the end to the beginning, and during that time, there was a problem that printing could not be resumed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a thermal transfer printer capable of detecting the number of rotations of a ribbon roller rotating in conjunction with winding and rewinding of an ink ribbon. Each time a line is printed, the ribbon roller is reversed by a number of revolutions less than the number of revolutions of the ribbon roller when the ink ribbon of the portion used for printing the one line is taken up, and the ink ribbon is rewound. 1
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer that repeatedly prints a line and a method for rewinding an ink ribbon of the thermal transfer printer.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, in which a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon capable of printing the same portion a plurality of times is provided. A carriage reciprocally movable along the platen on which the ribbon cassette can be mounted, and a ribbon cassette rotatable in contact with the ink ribbon and rotating in association with winding or rewinding of the ink ribbon. And a roller driving member that engages with the ribbon roller disposed on the carriage and is rotatable together with the ribbon roller. The rotation speed of the ribbon roller is controlled by the roller driving member. A detection member detectable through the ink ribbon, and performs winding or rewinding of the ink ribbon by mounting the ribbon cassette on the carriage. The rotational speed of Kino the ribbon roller and configured as detected by the detection member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the detecting member comprises an encoder having the same rotation center as the roller driving member, and the number of rotations of the ribbon roller rotating together with the roller driving member. Is configured to be detected by the detection member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for rewinding an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer, comprising the steps of: The ribbon cassette has a ribbon roller that abuts on the ink ribbon rotatable in association with the winding or rewinding of the ink ribbon, and is engaged with the ribbon roller to cooperate with the ribbon roller. A rotatable roller driving member is provided on the carriage, a detection member capable of detecting the number of rotations of the ribbon roller via the roller driving member is provided, and the carriage is moved from a printing start position along a platen. Printing was performed by thermally transferring the ink of the ink ribbon to a recording medium, and the portion subjected to this printing was wound on a take-up reel. When the ink ribbon is rewound to the supply reel again, and the printing is repeated using the portion subjected to the printing, the control of the rewound amount of the ink ribbon is performed by the rotation of the ribbon roller, which is detected by the detection member. The method was performed by using numbers.

Further, as a fourth means for solving the above-mentioned problem, the amount of rewinding of the ink ribbon is 1
Lines, or the portion of the ink ribbon subjected to the printing of a plurality of lines at the same time, by inverting the ribbon roller less than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member when winding on the take-up reel, the The ink ribbon was rewound on the supply reel.

As a fifth solution for solving the above-mentioned problem, the rewinding of the ink ribbon is performed by printing the one or more lines simultaneously on the recording medium while moving the carriage. Thereafter, the method is performed when returning the carriage to the printing start position.

As a sixth solution to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is characterized in that the printing of the ink ribbon from the head to the end is completed by repeating the printing of one line or a plurality of lines simultaneously. The rewind amount of the ink ribbon is the one line, or a portion provided for simultaneous printing of a plurality of lines,
The method is such that the ribbon roller is inverted more than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member when the ink ribbon is wound on the winding reel, and the ink ribbon is rewound to the supply reel.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A thermal transfer printer according to the present invention and an ink ribbon rewinding method of the thermal transfer printer will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part inside a carriage according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a top view of the main part, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an ink ribbon rewinding method according to the present invention.

First, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This housing 1 has side plates 1a, 1
b are integrally formed. At a predetermined position of the housing 1, a plate-shaped horizontally long platen 2 is attached. The platen 2 has a flat printing surface 2a formed on the surface. A paper feed roller 3 made of rotatable rubber or the like is provided below the platen 2 in the drawing.
And a pressure roller 4 that is rotatable following the rotation of the paper feed roller 3.

A paper discharge roller 5 is disposed above the platen 2 in the figure so that a printed recording medium (not shown) sent from the platen 2 can be discharged.
A paper feed unit 6 to which an automatic paper feeder (not shown) on which a plurality of recording media are placed is formed at the back side of the platen 2 in the drawing. The recording medium sent to the paper feed roller 3 and the pressing roller 4
And can be conveyed to the platen 2 side.

A carriage 7 that can reciprocate along the longitudinal direction of the platen 2 is provided on the side of the platen 2 facing the printing surface 2a. This carriage 7
The timing belt 1 is supported by a rod-shaped guide shaft 12 so as to be able to reciprocate, and is wound around a drive gear 13.
4 is stretched. Then, by driving the drive gear 13 to rotate, the timing belt 14 rotates,
The carriage 7 can reciprocate along the platen 2. A flat cassette mounting surface 7a is formed on the upper surface of the carriage 7, and a winding member 8 formed of a rotatable winding bobbin is provided at a predetermined distance from the center of the cassette mounting surface 7a. And a rewinding member 9 composed of a supply bobbin are formed so as to protrude upward.

The carriage 7 is provided with a thermal head 15 which can be moved toward and away from the platen 2 on the side of the platen 2 facing the printing surface 2a. The thermal head 15 is formed with a plurality of heating elements (not shown) arranged on the side facing the platen 2 in the vertical direction. The plurality of heating elements can selectively generate heat based on print information. In addition, thermal head 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a cam member (not shown) that can be moved toward and away from the platen 2, that is, head up and down.

The thermal head 1 is mounted on the carriage 7.
5, a roller driving member 10 that can be engaged with a ribbon roller 16d of a ribbon cassette 16, which will be described later, protrudes from the left corner. As shown in FIG. 3, the roller driving member 10 is gear-coupled to the winding member 8 inside the carriage 7, and the roller driving member 1 is linked with the rotation of the winding member 8.
Zero is also rotated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the roller driving member 10 is formed with a gear 10a geared to the take-up member 8, and a roller driving member 10 is provided below the gear 10a.
A detection member 11 capable of detecting the number of rotations is provided.
The detecting member 11 includes an encoder 11a having the same rotation center as the roller driving member 10, and the encoder 11a
Has a detection unit 11b formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and a photosensor 11c capable of detecting the detection unit is provided on the outer periphery of the encoder 11a. The detection member 11
Thus, the rotation speed of the ribbon roller 16e can be detected via the roller driving member 10.

The detector 11b of the encoder 11a
As shown in FIG. 3, the encoder 11 a is formed of a plurality of slit holes penetrating at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. When the encoder 11 a rotates, light emitted from the light emitting element of the photo sensor 11 c is intermittently blocked. Depending on the number of times this light is blocked,
The rotation number of the encoder 11a can be detected. Although the detection unit 11b of the encoder 11a has been described as a slit hole, the detection unit 11b may be replaced with a slit hole and a plurality of reflection members may be attached to one surface of the encoder 11a.

The cassette mounting surface 7a of the carriage 7
, A ribbon cassette 16 can be mounted. As shown in FIG. 1, the ribbon cassette 16 has a substantially rectangular case 16a forming an outer shell and has a hollow inside. A take-up reel 16b and a supply reel 16c are rotatably supported by the case 16a at a substantially central portion of the case 16a, and the take-up reel 16b is mounted on the take-up member 8 of the carriage 7 and the supply reel. Numerals 16c are spline-engaged with the rewind member 9 of the carriage 7, respectively.

The ribbon cassette 16 has a case 16
a concave head insertion portion 16d is formed on one end side of
When the ribbon cassette 16 is mounted on the carriage 7, the thermal head 15 is inserted into the head introduction portion 16d and positioned. A ribbon roller 16e that is rotatable in association with winding or rewinding of the ink ribbon 17 in contact with an ink ribbon 17 described later is disposed at a corner of the case 16a on the left side of the head insertion portion 16d in the drawing. ing. The ribbon roller 16e is configured such that the roller driving member 10 of the carriage 7 can be spline-engaged.

An ink ribbon 17 coated with a heat-fusible ink of a predetermined color is accommodated in the hollow of the ribbon cassette 16, and one end of the ink ribbon 17 is connected to the take-up reel 16b and the other end is connected to the take-up reel 16b. It is wound around the supply reel 16c, and a part thereof is pulled out to the outside from the head insertion part 16d and is exposed. The ink ribbon 17 is formed of a multi-time ribbon having a thick ink film so that the same portion can be used for printing a plurality of times. Therefore, the same part of the ink ribbon 17 is
Even if printing is performed repeatedly about 5 to 20 times, the print quality is not degraded. Also, the ink ribbon 17
Markers (not shown) at the beginning and end of
Is provided.

When the ribbon cassette 16 is placed on the carriage 7, the ribbon roller 16e is driven by the roller driving member 10.
To spline engagement. When the winding member 8 is rotated, the roller driving member 10 gear-coupled to the winding member 8 also rotates, and the ribbon roller 16e rotates.
The rotation of the ribbon roller 16e causes the ink ribbon 1 to rotate.
7 is conveyed to the take-up reel 16b side and take-up reel 1
6b. The rotation speed of the ribbon roller 16e at this time can be detected by the detection member 11 via the roller drive member 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 7 is reciprocated along the platen 2 in the directions of arrows A and B so that the ink ribbon 1 is moved by the thermal head 15.
7 can be transferred to a recording medium (not shown). At the center of rotation of the rewind member 9, a rewind member 9
A cam gear 18 that can rotate independently of the cam gear 18 is provided. One end of a substantially L-shaped head lever 19 is engaged with the cam gear 18, and when the cam gear 18 rotates, the head lever 19 is rotatable.

The thermal head 15 is mounted near the other end of the head lever 19 and has a cam gear 18.
Is rotated to rotate the head lever 19, whereby the head can be moved up and down with respect to the platen 2. Inside the carriage 7, the markers formed at the beginning and end of the ink ribbon 17 can be detected.
Ribbon end detecting means (not shown) is provided.

The operation of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention and the method of rewinding the ink ribbon of the thermal transfer printer will be described first.
The ribbon cassette 16 is mounted on a. Then, the ink ribbon 17 exposed at the head insertion portion 16d of the ribbon cassette 16 is positioned between the thermal head 15 in the head-up state and the platen 2. Next, the recording medium (not shown) conveyed from the paper feeding unit 6 is pressed and held between the paper feed roller 3 and the pressure roller 4, and the paper feed roller 3 is pressed.
Is transported between the platen 2 and the thermal head 15 by the rotation of. At this time, the ink ribbon 17 is located between the sent recording medium and the thermal head 15.

Next, the thermal head 15 is lowered, and the ink ribbon 17 and the recording medium are pressed against the platen 2. Then, based on the print information, the thermal head 1
5 is selectively heated by a heating element (not shown), and the carriage 7 is moved in the direction of arrow B along the platen 2 to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon 17 to the recording medium. As shown in FIG. 4, the first printing is performed, and the portion subjected to the first printing is wound on the take-up reel 16b. Then, the portion of the ink ribbon 17 subjected to the first printing is rewound onto the supply reel 16c again, and a part of the portion subjected to the first printing is used.
The second and subsequent printing is performed. The control of the rewind amount of the ink ribbon 17 is performed by the ribbon roller 1 detected by the detection member 11.
The rotation is performed at a rotation speed of 6e.

The rewind amount of the ink ribbon 17 to be rewound on the supply reel 16c is detected by the detecting member 11 when the ink ribbon 17 is wound on the take-up reel 16b during printing of one line or a plurality of lines simultaneously. The ink ribbon 17 is rewound to the supply reel 16c by inverting the ribbon roller 16e less than the rotation number of the ribbon roller 16e. That is, in the printing operation using the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, one line is printed in the first printing, and the ink ribbon 17 used for printing this one line is wound on a take-up reel 16b. The ink ribbon 17 wound on the take-up reel 16b is
The rewinding is carried out on the rewinding reel 16c by a dimension shorter than the dimension of the ink ribbon 17 in the portion used for printing the row. The same printing operation is repeated after the second printing.

By repeating such a printing operation, the ink ribbon 17 is gradually wound from the head to the end. Then, the printing operation as described above is repeated n times, and when the n-th printing shown in FIG. 4 is completed and the ribbon end detecting means detects the end of the ink ribbon, the winding of the ink ribbon 17 from the head to the end is performed. Ends. The amount of rewinding of the ink ribbon 17 when the winding from the head to the end of the ink ribbon 17 is completed is determined by the detection member 11 when the portion used for printing one line or a plurality of lines simultaneously is wound.
Is turned over more than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller 16e detected, and the ink ribbon 17 is rewound to the supply reel 16c.

That is, for example, one-line printing is repeated, and at the time when this printing is performed for the n-th time, the marker at the end of the ink ribbon 17 is detected, and the marker from one end to the end from the head to the end of the ink ribbon 17 is detected. Winding ends. In order to perform printing again using the ink ribbon 17 which has been wound on one side, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the end of the ink ribbon 17 is detected in the n-th printing,
The printing operation for printing each line is repeated while rewinding the ink ribbon 17 with a length longer than the length of the portion of the ink ribbon 17 used for printing the line.

By repeating such a printing operation, the ink ribbon 17 is gradually rewound from the tail to the head. Repeat this rewinding and printing,
The rewinding to the head of the ink ribbon 17 is completed. If the remaining amount of ink on the ink ribbon 17 at this time is still large enough to be used for printing, the printing operation of repeating the first printing and rewinding as shown in FIG. 4 is restarted. By repeating the printing operation as described above, the ink ribbon 17
Can be automatically and continuously performed without removing the ribbon cassette 16 from the carriage 7 even when the winding of the ribbon cassette 16 from the beginning to the end or the rewinding from the end to the beginning is completed. .

The rewinding of the ink ribbon 17 after the first printing of one line or a plurality of lines is performed at the same time is performed by returning the ink ribbon to the printing start position by moving the carriage 7 in the direction of arrow A. 17 is rewound on the supply reel 16c. Therefore, the waiting time for rewinding the ink ribbon 17 can be eliminated, and the printing time can be reduced.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ribbon cassette is placed on the carriage and the ink ribbon is wound up.
Alternatively, since the number of rotations of the ribbon roller at the time of rewinding is detected by the detection member, the winding amount and the rewind amount of the ink ribbon can be controlled with high accuracy from the number of rotations of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member. can do. 1 for that
The printing operation can be repeated while rewinding the ink ribbon with high accuracy even if the printing of a line or a plurality of lines is repeated at the same time, so that the ink of the ink ribbon can be used efficiently and efficiently, and the running cost is reduced. A possible thermal transfer printer can be provided.

Further, the detecting member comprises an encoder having the same rotation center as the roller driving member, and the detecting member detects the number of rotations of the ribbon roller rotating together with the roller driving member. Can be detected with high precision by the encoder.

In the method for rewinding an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, the ink ribbon obtained by winding a portion subjected to printing on a take-up reel is rewound on a supply reel again.
When performing repetitive printing using the portion subjected to the printing, the winding amount of the ink ribbon and the control of the rewinding amount are controlled by the rotation speed of the ribbon roller detected by the detecting member. Therefore, the amount of rewinding of the ink ribbon can be controlled with high accuracy by the rotation speed of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member, and the ink on the ink ribbon can be used efficiently and without waste.

The amount of rewinding of the ink ribbon is determined by the detection member when the detection member detects that the portion of the ink ribbon that has been printed for one line or a plurality of lines simultaneously is wound on the take-up reel. Since the ribbon roller is inverted less than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller and the ink ribbon is rewound to the supply reel, by repeating such a printing operation, the ink ribbon is gradually wound around the take-up reel. You can print while taking. Therefore, the running cost of the ink ribbon can be reduced, and low-cost printing can be performed.

In addition, the rewinding of the ink ribbon is performed by moving the carriage while moving the carriage onto the recording medium in one line.
Alternatively, printing is performed simultaneously for a plurality of lines, and thereafter, when the carriage is returned to the printing start position, the ink ribbon is rewound when the carriage returns to the printing start position. The waiting time can be eliminated, and the printing speed can be increased.

Further, by repeating the printing of one line or a plurality of lines simultaneously, the rewind amount of the ink ribbon when the winding from the head to the end of the ink ribbon is completed is determined by the one line, Or, by inverting the ribbon roller more than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member when the portion provided for simultaneous printing on a plurality of lines is wound on the winding reel, the ink ribbon is supplied to the supply reel. Since the rewinding is performed, the ribbon cassette is not manually turned over even after the winding of the ink ribbon to one side is completed, and the operability is good. Further, by repeating the printing operation, printing can be performed while the ink ribbon is gradually rewound to the supply reel. Therefore, the running cost of the ink ribbon can be reduced, and low-cost printing can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of a main part inside the carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a main part inside a carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an ink ribbon rewinding method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a, 1b Side plate 2 Platen 7 Carriage 7a Cassette mounting surface 8 Winding member 8a First gear 9 Rewind member 10 Roller driving member 10a Second gear 11 Detecting member 11a Encoder 11b Detecting unit 11c Photosensor 15 Thermal Head 16 Ribbon cassette 16a Case 16b Take-up reel 16c Supply reel 16d Head insertion section 16e Ribbon roller 17 Ink ribbon 18 Drive source 19 Head lever

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A ribbon cassette in which an ink ribbon capable of providing the same portion for printing a plurality of times is housed, a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen on which the ribbon cassette can be mounted, and the ink cartridge. A ribbon roller disposed in the ribbon cassette which is rotatable in conjunction with the winding or rewinding of the ink ribbon in contact with a ribbon, and engages with the ribbon roller disposed on the carriage. A roller driving member rotatable together with the ribbon roller, a detection member capable of detecting the number of rotations of the ribbon roller via the roller driving member, and mounting the ribbon cassette on the carriage to form the ink. Thermal transfer characterized in that the detection member detects the number of rotations of the ribbon roller when winding or rewinding a ribbon. Printer. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting member comprises an encoder having the same rotation center as the roller driving member, and the detecting member detects the number of rotations of the ribbon roller rotating together with the roller driving member. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein 3. An ink ribbon that can be used for printing the same portion a plurality of times is stored in a ribbon cassette.
The ribbon cassette has a ribbon roller abutting on the ink ribbon rotatable in conjunction with winding or rewinding of the ink ribbon, and a roller that engages with the ribbon roller and can rotate with the ribbon roller. A drive member is disposed on the carriage, and a detection member capable of detecting the number of rotations of the ribbon roller via the roller drive member is provided.
While moving the carriage from the print start position along the platen, the ink of the ink ribbon is thermally transferred to a recording medium to perform printing, and the ink ribbon obtained by winding the portion subjected to the printing onto a take-up reel is re-used. When rewinding to the supply reel and performing repetitive printing using the portion subjected to the printing, the control of the rewind amount of the ink ribbon is performed by the rotation speed of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member. A method for rewinding an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer. 4. The unwinding amount of the ink ribbon is 1
Lines, or the portion of the ink ribbon subjected to the printing of a plurality of lines at the same time, by inverting the ribbon roller less than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member when winding on the take-up reel, the 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the ink ribbon is rewound to the supply reel. 5. The rewinding of the ink ribbon is performed when the carriage is moved to perform the printing of one or more lines on the recording medium at the same time, and thereafter, when the carriage is returned to the printing start position. 5. The method for rewinding an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer according to claim 4, wherein 6. The rewinding amount of the ink ribbon when the winding from the beginning to the end of the ink ribbon is completed by repeating the printing of the one line or a plurality of lines at the same time. Or, the part provided for simultaneous printing of multiple lines,
The ink ribbon is rewound to the supply reel by inverting the ribbon roller more than the number of rotations of the ribbon roller detected by the detection member when winding the ink ribbon on the winding reel. Item 6. The method for rewinding an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer according to item 4 or 5.