JP2006281450A - Thermal transfer printer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a printing with an appropriate color developing characteristics by correcting for example, fluctuation of color development of a thermal transfer ribbon caused by difference in manufacturing lots, change in the color developing characteristics of the ribbon caused by change with time, and fluctuation of the color of a printed article depending on difference in machines of a thermal transfer printer apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A non-volatile memory 5 stores color gradation data for reference prepared in advance, and a CPU 7 prints the color gradation data in the memory 5 on a photographic paper. Blocks 1 and 2 obtain color information by a reflected light obtained by irradiating the photographic paper after printing with a light. The CPU 7 compares a relation of sizes of a gradation value expected from the color gradation data in the memory 5 with a gradation value obtained from the color information, and based on the difference, corrects a control strobe pulse of a thermal head 3 or corrects the image data before printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to correction of a printing color of a thermal transfer printer printing apparatus.

  In conventional thermal transfer printer devices, the print color is corrected by measuring the color density of the printed material when the dye maker creates the ribbon and adding the information to the ribbon. There was something to do.

  Alternatively, the printed printed matter is adjusted by using a device such as a separate scanner, or by the user visually judging and adjusting the control strobe pulse applied to the image data or the thermal head.

  As a measure to improve this, when the transmitted light of the ribbon is detected as the concentration and color distribution of the dye applied by the photo sensor, there is a possibility that printing that deviates from the target color due to variations in ribbon manufacturing may occur. In addition, there is a prior document that obtains a suitable color by controlling the printing energy of each color such as yellow, magenta, and cyan to be printed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-6-106765 (FIG. 2)

  The problems to be solved by the present invention lie in the variation in the color development of the ribbon due to the difference in the production lot, the change in the color development characteristic of the ribbon due to the change with time, and the suppression of the color variation of the printed matter due to the machine difference of the thermal transfer printer device. However, in the prior art of Patent Document 1 described above, since the printing energy of each color is controlled by the detection information of only the transmitted light from the ribbon, the printing density cannot be optimally controlled.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a viewpoint, and its main purpose is, for example, due to variations in color development of the thermal transfer ribbon due to differences in production lots, changes in the color development characteristics of the ribbon due to changes over time, and differences in thermal transfer printer devices. The purpose is to obtain a print having suitable color development characteristics by correcting the color variation of the printed matter.

  The subject of the present invention is a thermal transfer printer apparatus having a thermal head, a ribbon and photographic paper, a storage device storing predetermined color gradation data for reference, and being stored in the storage device in response to a command. A printing mechanism that prints the reference color gradation data on the photographic paper via the thermal head and the ribbon, and the photographic paper after the reference color gradation data is printed by the printing mechanism. A first light source that emits light to a portion on which the reference color gradation data is printed, and reflected light from the photographic paper that is generated by the light irradiation of the first light source is detected as first color information. A first light receiver, a color value expected value of each color expected from the reference color gradation data, and a color value characteristic of each color actually obtained from the first color information detected by the first light receiver; For each color In comparison, when there is a difference therebetween, characterized in that it comprises a control unit for controlling the strobe pulse of the thermal head based on the difference.

  Hereinafter, various embodiments of the subject of the present invention will be described in detail along with the effects and advantages thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  According to the subject of the present invention, the control strobe pulse (or alternatively) that gives the thermal head color variations of the ribbon due to differences in production lots, changes in the color development characteristics of the ribbon due to changes over time, and color variations of the printed matter due to machine differences in the thermal transfer printer device. Since the image data for printing itself is corrected, there is an effect that a stable color printed matter can be obtained regardless of individual differences between the ribbon and the thermal transfer printer device.

  The feature of the present invention is that the control is given to the thermal head at the printing stage based on the color information obtained by irradiating light from the light source to the printed matter on which the reference color gradation data is printed, and also to the unused ribbon. By correcting the strobe pulse or correcting the image data for printing at the stage before printing, printing with suitable color development characteristics is realized. In other words, the first color information of the printing surface on which the predetermined image is printed is detected, or the detection result of the second color information of the ribbon of the unused portion is further added, and the thermal head is determined from the color information. This is to correct the color variation by adjusting the energy. Hereinafter, based on the drawings, each embodiment which is an example in which the features of the present invention are realized will be described.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of an electric circuit of a thermal transfer recording type printer apparatus using roll type photographic paper according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a light source control block 1 includes light sources for irradiating light to a thermal transfer printer paper (corresponding to photographic paper) on which a thermal transfer printer dye is printed and an unused portion of ribbon on which the thermal transfer printer dye is printed. The color information detection block 2 detects the reflected light of the portion of the thermal transfer printer paper on which the thermal transfer printer dye is printed as the (first) color information. This block controls the first light receiver, and also controls the second light receiver that detects, as (second) color information, the light transmitted through the unused portion of the ribbon on which the thermal transfer printer dye is printed. Reference numeral 3 is a thermal head for sublimating the dye on the ribbon, and the print control block 4 is a block for controlling the heat generation of the thermal head 3 in a strobe pulse. The reference color gradation data storage nonvolatile memory 5 is an example of a storage device or storage device that stores reference color gradation data for color correction prepared in advance. The reference color gradation data is read by an address command of the CPU 7 described later at the time of color correction. Further, the mechanical control block 6 corresponds to a block for controlling a mechanism for transporting a ribbon or photographic paper, and the CPU 7 serves as a core of a “control unit” for controlling the blocks 1 to 6 in an integrated manner. Device. For example, as will be described later, the CPU 7 controls an element for adjusting energy such as the pulse width or the number of pulses of the strobe pulse of the thermal head 3 as one of the comparison control operations, and applies the thermal head control strobe pulse to the thermal head. 3 to block 4. In other words, with reference to FIG. 1, the CPU 7 and the print control block 4 obtain “the color value characteristic expected value of each color expected from the reference color gradation data and the first color information detected by the first light receiver. The actual color value characteristic of each color is compared for each color, and if there is a difference between the two, the strobe pulse of the thermal head 3 is controlled based on the difference (as a control example, the pulse width and the number of pulses are changed) It can be said functionally that the “control section” is configured.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer mechanical unit portion in a thermal transfer recording type printer apparatus using roll type photographic paper according to the present embodiment. A first light source 8 for irradiating light on a portion of the photographic paper 14) on which the dye for thermal transfer printer is printed, and reflected light from the portion of the thermal transfer printer paper on which the dye for thermal transfer printer is printed. It can also be said that it is a diagram showing the arrangement of the first light receiver 9 which is a means for detecting as follows. From a different viewpoint, FIG. 2 shows that “a command that is arbitrarily output from the CPU 7 in FIG. 1 or that is always output at the start of printing (the command is, for example, a command button or switch provided in the printer device by the user). A printing mechanism that performs thermal transfer printing of the reference color gradation data stored in the storage device 5 on a photographic paper via a thermal head and a ribbon. It can be said that it shows the main part of

  In FIG. 2, a first light source 8 is a light source (white LED or the like) that irradiates light onto a printed portion of the thermal transfer printer paper 14 after the thermal transfer printer dye is printed. This is a color photosensor that receives and detects reflected light from the portion of the thermal transfer paper 14 on which the dye for thermal transfer printer is printed as first color information. The second light source 10 is a light source (white LED or the like) that irradiates light to an unused portion of the (thermal transfer) ribbon (the ribbon before being thermally transferred by the thermal head 12). The second light receiver 11 is a thermal transfer device. It is a color photosensor that receives and detects light transmitted through a ribbon printed with a printer dye as second color information. Reference numeral 12 is a thermal head, reference numeral 13 is a ribbon coated with heat-meltable ink or heat sublimation ink, and reference numeral 14 is photographic paper. The platen roller 15 is a roller for bringing the ribbon 13 and the photographic paper 14 into close contact with each other and pressing them against the thermal head 12, and the pinch roller 16 and the conveying roller 17 are rollers for conveying the photographic paper 14. The optical sensor 18 is a sensor for detecting the front end position of the photographic paper, the optical sensor 19 is a sensor for detecting the ink application area of the ribbon 13, and the motor 20 is for transporting the photographic paper 14 via a gear. The motor 21 is a motor for winding the ribbon 13 to the take-up side via a gear, and the motor 22 is a motor for winding the ribbon 13 to the supply side via a gear. Reference numeral 38 indicates a cutter for cutting the photographic paper 14. The light sources 8 and 10 are controlled by the CPU 7 through the block 1 in FIG. 1, and the detection signals of the light receivers 8 and 11 are taken into the CPU 7 through the block 2 as color information signals. In this example, as will be described later, the CPU 7 calculates the detected gradation value of each color from each detected color information signal. The outline of the printing color correction method is as follows.

  Light from the first light source 8 is irradiated with light such as white light onto a printed portion of the thermal transfer printer paper 14 on which information in the nonvolatile memory 5 in which reference color gradation data 23 (FIG. 3) for color correction is stored in advance is printed. The reflected light thus obtained is detected by the color photosensor 9 as the first color information. The CPU 7 determines the difference between the first color information data detected by the color photosensor 9 and the color value expected from the reference color gradation data 23 for color correction. In order to correct the difference, the control strobe pulse for generating heat from the thermal head 12 is changed as described later to correct the printing color. Alternatively, the CPU 7 corrects the printing color by changing the printing image data in a stage before printing in order to correct the difference. Alternatively, the CPU 7 corrects the printing color by changing both the control strobe pulse and the printing image data.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 7 uses the second light source 10 as the second color information to indicate the amount of transmitted light obtained as a result of irradiating the unused portion of the ribbon 13 with light such as white light by the second light source 10. It may be used in a manner that takes into account color information, and print color correction may be executed by a control strobe pulse for correcting the difference as described above or / and a change in image data for printing. At this time, since the correction amount based on the second color information is superimposed on the first color information, the presence / absence of the difference between the detected gradation value and the expected gradation value and the amount of the difference are more accurately determined. It becomes possible to improve the printing color correction accuracy.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows an example of detected color information and expected color values. In one example of this case, the reference color gradation data 23 for color correction printed in advance and actual color value expected values 24, 25, 26 of each color expected from the color gradation data 23 are actually compared. Among the measured values 27, 28, and 29 of the color information detected for each color, the X-th gradation of the R (red) component 27 is colored with the XY gradation. Control by the strobe pulse or the image data value before printing is corrected so that the red component (gradation difference) that becomes the XY gradation becomes the originally expected X gradation.

  Here, an example of strobe pulse correction for the R (red) component will be described below based on FIG. With respect to the thermal head 12, it is common to correct the amount of heat generated by the ON time of the head resistor (not shown). As shown in FIG. 4, the thermal head control strobe pulse 31 after correction is less than the thermal head control strobe pulse 30 before correction, in order to suppress the R (red) component that is excessively colored, magenta and It can be suppressed by reducing the amount of heat generated by yellow. In this case, as in the corrected thermal head control strobe pulse 31, by shortening the ON time of the strobe pulse corresponding to the magenta and yellow X gradations, it becomes possible to suppress excessive red color development. By this correction, a suitable color development characteristic can be obtained. That is, in the case of FIG. 4, the R (red) component is colored excessively by correcting the width of the thermal head control strobe pulse so as to satisfy the relationship of T1 (32)> T2 (33). It becomes possible to suppress the R (red) component. Incidentally, when the example of FIG. 3 is corrected, the magnitude relationship of the width of the thermal head control strobe pulse is opposite to the above case.

  There are various methods for correcting the strobe pulse width for controlling the thermal head. For example, conversion by reference to a table value, arithmetic processing in the CPU 7, arithmetic by a hardware (H / W) circuit, etc. Processing can be considered.

  In the above example of the present embodiment, the strobe pulse width is controlled. However, the same thermal control can be performed equivalently by repeating the strobe pulse for a certain ON period a plurality of times. That is, the number of strobe pulses during the ON period is controlled (changed). In this embodiment, the term “controls the strobe pulse” is used to include such a modified example.

  The flow of the printing color correction method outlined above is shown in the flowchart of FIG. The print color correction flow will be described below with reference to FIG.

  In response to the user's input of the color correction command 39, the CPU 7, the print control block 4 and the mechanical control block 6 store reference color gradation data (for example, data 23 in FIG. 3) stored in the nonvolatile memory 5. While printing 40 is performed, white light irradiation 41 is performed on the paper surface by the first light source 8. The first light receiver 9 receives the reflected light 42 of the paper surface by the irradiation under the control of the block 2, and the CPU 7 expects the R (red) component actually received to be the R (red) component. A determination 43 is made as to whether or not the value is equal. If the received first color information coincides with the expected value, the control proceeds to G (green) and B (blue) component control 47 and 48. However, if the two values do not match (for example, in the case of the example of FIG. 3 described above), the CPU 7 determines 44 whether the detected value is larger than the expected value. ) Since the component is excessively dark, the control 45 for suppressing the printing energy of M (magenta) and Y (yellow) is performed. On the other hand, if it is smaller, the CPU 7 performs control 46 to emphasize the printing energy of M (magenta) and Y (yellow) because the R (red) component is thinner than the expected value. After that, the control goes to the control 47 and 48 for the G (green) and B (blue) components, but these controls are the same as the above-described control of R (red), and the explanation is omitted. When the control of the G (green) and B (blue) components is completed, the color correction process ends 49. In this example, the above correction is started in response to the user's command 39. However, it goes without saying that the series of corrections may always be performed at the start of printing.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of image data correction for printing. The image data is expressed by, for example, 256 gradations for each color of RGB. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 6, when correction is not necessary, input and output are performed like R (red) image data 34 that is not corrected. Takes the same value without correction. On the other hand, when correction is necessary, the red color is increased as shown in the R (red) image data 35 to be corrected, and the correction as shown in the value 36 of X + Z is performed as the image data gradation value. By incorporating it, suitable color development characteristics can be obtained. As a method for correcting printing image data, conversion by referring to a table value, processing by a CPU, and arithmetic processing by an H / W circuit are conceivable as in strobe pulse correction.

(Embodiment 2)
The feature of the present embodiment is that the printing mechanism according to the above meaning or definition causes the reference color gradation data 23 to be generated in the section of the paper section of the photographic paper 14 that is always generated in order to realize printing without margins. The point is to print. Therefore, regarding the points that are not different from the first embodiment, the description of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 is used in the description of the present embodiment. Specifically, it is as follows.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the state of the thermal transfer printer paper when performing marginless printing in the thermal transfer printer apparatus using roll type photographic paper. In the thermal transfer printer apparatus, in order to realize printing without margins, a section 37 that is cut off by the cutter 38 in the paper feeding direction at the time of completion of printing always occurs. In the present embodiment, the reference color gradation data 23 for color correction is printed on the slice 37, and before the slice 37 is cut off, the slice 37 is irradiated with light and the color photosensor 9 (first) color. Get information. By applying the obtained color information to the correction of the next printing, it becomes possible to correct even variations in coloring within the same ribbon. In addition, by adopting this method, it is possible to avoid consuming extra thermal transfer ribbon and thermal transfer printer paper for color correction.

(Appendix)
While the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described in detail above, the above description exemplifies aspects to which the present invention can be applied, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, various modifications and variations to the described aspects can be considered without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  As an application example of the present invention, there is a thermal transfer printer device. Among them, the thermal transfer printer device is particularly suitable for application to a thermal transfer sublimation type printer device that requires highly accurate color development characteristics.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of the electric circuit structure in the thermal transfer printer apparatus concerning Embodiment 1 and 2 of this invention. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a mechanical unit of the thermal transfer printer device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating detected color information and expected color values in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of strobe pulse correction in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow in the first embodiment. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of printing image data correction in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating the state of thermal transfer printer paper when performing marginless printing in the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  5 Non-volatile memory, 7 CPU, 8, 10 Light source, 9, 11 Color photo sensor, 12 Thermal head, 13 Ribbon, 14 Printing paper, 23 Reference color gradation data for color correction, 31 Thermal head control strobe after correction pulse.

Claims (5)

A thermal transfer printer apparatus having a thermal head, a ribbon and photographic paper,
A storage device for storing predetermined color gradation data for reference;
A printing mechanism for printing the reference color gradation data stored in the storage device on the photographic paper via the thermal head and the ribbon in response to a command;
A first light source that emits light to a portion of the photographic paper on which the reference color gradation data is printed, after the reference color gradation data is printed by the printing mechanism;
A first light receiver for detecting reflected light from the photographic paper generated by light irradiation of the first light source as first color information;
A color value expected value of each color expected from the reference color gradation data is compared with a color value characteristic of each color actually obtained from the first color information detected by the first light receiver for each color. A control unit that controls the strobe pulse of the thermal head based on the difference when there is a difference between the two,
Thermal transfer printer device. The thermal transfer printer apparatus according to claim 1,
A second light source for irradiating light to an unused portion of the ribbon;
A second light receiving device for detecting transmitted light transmitted through the unused portion of the ribbon as second color information;
The control unit executes the control of the strobe pulse of the thermal head in consideration of not only the first color information but also the second color information.
Thermal transfer printer device. The thermal transfer printer apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The control unit always executes the control of the strobe pulse of the thermal head before starting printing,
Thermal transfer printer device. The thermal transfer printer apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The printing mechanism is
The reference color gradation data is printed on a portion of the paper section of the photographic paper that is necessarily generated in order to realize printing without margins,
Thermal transfer printer device. The thermal transfer printer device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Instead of changing the control of the strobe pulse for causing the thermal head to generate heat, the image data for printing in the stage before printing is changed to obtain the expected color development characteristics,
Thermal transfer printer device.

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