JP3098378B2 - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

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 more particularly to a thermal transfer printer capable of selecting a desired ribbon cassette from a plurality of ribbon cassettes and automatically exchanging and printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a recording medium such as paper and an ink ribbon coated with a desired ink are supported in front of a platen, and a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged on the platen together with a carriage. The ink ribbon is fed out while being reciprocated along, and the heating elements arranged in the thermal head are selectively heated based on print information, thereby allowing desired characters and the like on a recording medium such as paper. Thermal transfer printer that prints the image of
Because of high printing quality, low noise, low cost, and ease of maintenance, they are frequently used as output devices such as computers and word processors.

[0003] Conventionally, a plurality of ribbon cassettes having different ink colors or the like are provided so as to face a carriage, and a necessary ribbon cassette is selected from the plurality of ribbon cassettes. There is known a thermal transfer printer which is exchanged and mounted on a carriage so that printing or the like can be performed.

In such a conventional thermal transfer printer having a plurality of ribbon cassettes, various sensors such as a sensor for detecting the type of the ribbon cassette such as a color and a sensor for detecting the home position of the carriage are provided. Is provided.

[0005] In the conventional detection of the type of ribbon cassette, for example, the shape of the ribbon cassette is changed for each type of ink ribbon, or a detection hole corresponding to the type of ink ribbon is formed in the ribbon cassette, and provided on the carriage. This is done by, for example, contacting a mechanical switch and detecting it. In addition, the detection of the position of the home position of the carriage is performed, for example, by detecting the position of the carriage by bringing the position detection member of the carriage into contact with a home position detection sensor including a mechanical switch.

[0006]

However, in detecting the type of ribbon cassette in the above-described conventional thermal transfer printer, a dedicated ribbon cassette must be formed for each type of ink ribbon. Forming a ribbon cassette requires a wide variety of molding dies, which is economically burdensome, and requires a great deal of labor and time to store the ribbon cassette before storing the ink ribbon, manage inventory, etc. There was such a problem. With the increase in the types of ink ribbons, the structure of the sensor for detecting the type of the ribbon cassette is complicated and expensive, and the cost of the entire thermal transfer printer is increased. There was also a problem that it was not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a simple structure, capable of automatically discriminating various kinds of ribbon cassettes, and reducing the cost. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a platen according to the present invention, a carriage capable of reciprocating along the platen and capable of mounting a ribbon cassette, and a Arranged at predetermined positions facing each other, each holding a ribbon cassette
And a plurality of cassette holder capable, the plurality of skein
In a thermal transfer printer that selects and automatically replaces a desired ribbon cassette from among the ribbon cassettes held in the cartridge holder and performs printing by mounting the ink cartridge on a carriage, the ink ribbon stored in the ribbon cassette is stored in the ribbon cassette. Place an identification mark to identify the type of
A sensor for detecting the identification mark is provided on the carriage, and each cassette holder is reloaded based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying the movement of the carriage.
It is necessary to determine whether the Bon cassette is held or not.
And a controller for determining the type of the ink ribbon stored in the ribbon cassette held in the printer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the thermal transfer printer according to the first aspect, the control unit moves the carriage relative to a home position based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying the movement of the carriage. It is characterized in that it is configured to detect a distance.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the thermal transfer printer according to the first or second aspect, the control unit controls the canopy based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying movement of the carriage. It is characterized in that it is configured to determine the open / closed state.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the thermal transfer printer according to any one of the first to third aspects, the control unit is configured to output an output signal from the sensor accompanying movement of the carriage. Based on the above, a change in the distance between the ribbon cassettes due to the temperature is detected.

[0012]

According to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, various kinds of ink ribbons can be stored in a ribbon cassette having the same shape and size by providing an identification mark on the ribbon cassette. By moving the carriage, the presence / absence of the ribbon cassette disposed at a predetermined position and the identification mark can be detected by a sensor provided on the carriage. Then, by detecting the identification mark of the ribbon cassette, it is possible to detect a change in the moving distance of the carriage with respect to the home position, the open / closed state of the canopy, and the distance between the ribbon cassettes.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the main part, and FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a carriage. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer printer 1 of the present embodiment has a plate-like platen 2 disposed at a desired position on a frame (not shown) so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A guide shaft 3 is disposed below and in front of the platen 2 in parallel with the platen 2. A carriage 4 divided into upper and lower parts is attached to an appropriate position of the guide shaft 3. One of the lower parts shown below is a lower carriage 4 attached to the guide shaft 3.
The upper one is an upper carriage 4b to which a ribbon cassette 5 to be described later is attached and which can be vertically moved toward and away from the lower carriage 4a. The carriage 4 drives an appropriate drive belt 6 wound around a pair of pulleys (not shown) by appropriate drive means (not shown) such as a stepping motor, and causes the guide shaft 3 to rotate. It is driven so as to be able to reciprocate along.

The carriage 4 is provided with a thermal head 7 which is opposed to the platen 2 and can be freely moved toward and away from the platen 2 and which prints on a recording medium (paper, not shown) on the platen 2 in a pressed state. Has been established. The thermal head 7 has a plurality of heating elements (not shown) arranged and arranged to selectively generate heat based on desired print information input by an appropriate input device (not shown) such as a keyboard. It has.

The carriage 4 will be described in more detail. The carriage 4 has a plate-like upper carriage 4b, which is substantially parallel to the lower carriage 4a attached to the guide shaft 3, and a lower carriage 4a which is formed by a parallel crank mechanism 8. And is attached so as to be able to move in parallel so as to come in contact with and separate from. As shown in FIG. 3, the parallel crank mechanism 8 includes a pair of links 9a, 9b provided at both left and right ends of the carriage 4 and intersecting each other in an X-shape. Is the pin 10a
And the ends of the links 9a, 9b are
The lower carriage 4a and the upper carriage 4b are slidably locked by long holes (not shown) formed at upper ends of left and right sides of the upper carriage 4b by b, 10c, 10d, and 10e, respectively.

The lower carriage 4a is provided with a rotary crank mechanism 11, which allows the upper carriage 4b to be moved in parallel. This rotary crank mechanism 11
A rotating plate 12 serving as a rotating member rotatably supported by the lower carriage 4a, and a connecting link 14 serving as a connecting member pivotally connected to the eccentric position of the rotating plate 12 by a pin 13a. The front end 14 is pivotally connected to the upper carriage 4b by a pin 13b.
Then, the rotating plate 12 is rotatably driven by a suitable driving means (not shown) such as a motor.

Returning to FIG. 1, a plate-like arm is formed on each of the left and right sides of the upper carriage 4b with an engagement portion 15a having a tip gently curved inward and a projection formed at the upper and lower ends. Reference numerals 15 stand upright at intervals substantially equal to the width of the ribbon cassette 5. A pair of rotatable bobbins 16 are disposed at a central portion of the upper carriage 4b so as to protrude upward at a predetermined interval from each other.
The bobbin 16 allows the ink ribbon 17 to travel in a predetermined direction. One of the pair of bobbins 16 is a take-up bobbin 16 a for winding the ink ribbon 17, and the other is a delivery bobbin 16 for sending the ink ribbon 17.
b. An optical sensor 18a is disposed on an edge of the carriage 4 farther from the platen 2 as a sensor 18 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon stored in the ribbon cassette 5. In this embodiment, a reflection type optical sensor is used as the optical sensor 18a.

The optical sensor 18a is connected to the thermal transfer printer 1
Is connected to a control unit 25 which controls the printing operation and the like of the thermal transfer printer 1 disposed at a desired position. The control unit 25 is formed of a memory, a CPU, and the like (not shown). Based on at least an output signal from the optical sensor 18a accompanying the movement of the carriage 4, the presence or absence of the ribbon cassette 5 and the ink stored in the ribbon cassette 5 are determined. The type of the ribbon 17, the moving distance of the carriage 4 with respect to the home position, the open / close state of a canopy 19 described later, the distance between a pair of adjacent or separated ribbon cassettes 5, and the like can be determined or detected.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, above the carriage 4, there is provided a substantially plate, which is supported by a frame (not shown) at an appropriate interval so as to be openable and closable as shown by a double arrow A in FIG. A canopy 19 is provided.
The canopy 19 functions as a paper presser on the exit side of a paper feed mechanism (not shown) in the closed state.
Is almost the same length as the moving area.

A plurality of cassette holders (not shown) for holding the ribbon cassette 5 are provided at predetermined positions on the lower surface of the canopy 19 facing the carriage 4 in parallel. In the embodiment, a four-color ink ribbon 17 for performing multicolor printing is used.
The ribbon cassettes 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, 5 d in which a, 17 b, 17 c, 17 d are stored are arranged in a line in the moving direction of the carriage 4. Each of the ribbon cassettes 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d is indicated by a double arrow B in FIG.
As shown by, transfer is selectively performed between the canopy 19 and the upper carriage 4b.

Each of the ribbon cassettes 5a, 5b,
5c and 5d are independent of the type of the ink ribbon 17
All are formed in the same shape and the same size.
A pair of rotatably supported reels 21 (not shown), a pair of rotatably supported ribbon feed rollers, and a rotatably supported ribbon in a pair of substantially rectangular case main bodies 20 in a plane. A plurality of guide rollers and the like facing the path are provided. The ink ribbon 17 is wound between a pair of reels, and an intermediate portion of the ribbon path of the ink ribbon 17 is led out. This pair of reels
When mounted on the upper carriage 4b, one is a take-up reel that winds the ink ribbon 17 of the portion used for printing, and the other is a delivery reel that sends out the ink ribbon. On the inner peripheral surface of each reel, a plurality of key grooves are formed in a spline shape at intervals in the circumferential direction.
The inner peripheral surface of one reel is a winding hole 21a with which the winding bobbin 16a is engaged, and the inner peripheral surface of the other reel is a sending hole 21b with which the sending bobbin 16b is engaged. I have. On the surface of the ribbon cassette 5 which is mounted on the carriage 4 and faces the platen 2, a concave portion 22 facing the thermal head 7 is formed, and an intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 17 is led out in the concave portion 22. ing.

An identification mark 23 for discriminating the type of the ink ribbon 17 stored in each ribbon cassette 5 is provided on the rear surface of the ribbon cassette 5 extending parallel to the surface on which the concave portion 22 is formed. Are located. The identification mark 23 of this embodiment is a reflective seal 24 having a different number of striped non-reflective portions 24a depending on the type of the ink ribbon 17.
Is formed.

Then, the identification mark 23 is detected by the optical sensor 18a provided on the carriage 4, and a detection signal is output to the control unit 25 of the printer. The type of the ink ribbon 17 stored in the ribbon cassette 5 is determined by counting the number.

That is, in the ribbon cassette 5a shown at the left end in FIG. 1, a reflection sticker 24A having three non-reflection portions 24a is arranged as the identification mark 23. Non-reflective part 24 of
a, a reflective seal 24B having two a non-reflective portions 24a is disposed as an identification mark 23 on the ribbon cassette 5c, and a reflective seal 24C having two non-reflective portions 24a is disposed on the ribbon cassette 5d. A reflection seal 24 </ b> D having one non-reflection portion 24 a is arranged as the identification mark 23. And the ribbon cassette 5
The left end of the rear surface is a reference position BP for detecting the identification mark 23, and the distance L to the right end surface of the non-reflection portion 24a located at the right end in the drawing of the identification mark 23 is the same for all the identification marks 23. In addition, a desired non-reflective portion 24a for identifying the type of the ink ribbon 17 is formed within the distance L. The carriage 4 can be stopped when the optical sensor 18a detects the identification mark 23 to be used. When the carriage 4 is stopped, the ribbon cassette 5 provided in the cassette holder is moved to the upper carriage 4b. To be handed over.

The identification mark 23 may be printed on the ribbon cassette 5, and is not particularly limited to the configuration of the present embodiment.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described.

First, an example of the operation of detecting the ribbon cassette 5 by the thermal transfer printer 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

The operation of detecting the ribbon cassette 5 by the thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment is performed by driving the thermal transfer printer 1
By moving (running) the carriage 4 located at the home position to the right side in FIG. 1 according to a command from the control unit 25, the optical sensor 18a disposed on the carriage 4 detects the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5. It is done by doing. And the optical sensor 18a
A unique detection signal of each identification mark 23 based on the arrangement of the non-reflective portions 24a and the configuration of the pitch and the like is sent to the control unit 25,
The control unit 25 determines whether the identification mark 23 corresponds to the command. If the identification mark 23 corresponds to the command, the movement of the carriage 4 is stopped. The movement of the carriage 4 is continued until the identification mark 23 corresponding to is detected.

That is, in this embodiment, depending on the type of the ink ribbon 17, the reflection seal 2 of the ribbon cassette 5 is used.
By detecting the difference between the four, the ribbon cassette 5 (specifically, the ink ribbon 17) can be reliably determined.

In this embodiment, the type of the ribbon cassette 5 is detected in a non-contact state by the identification mark 23 provided on the ribbon cassette 5 and the optical sensor 18a provided on the carriage 4. Unlike the mechanical switch, there is no movable part associated with the detection operation, so that a stable operation can be maintained for a long period of time. Further, according to the present embodiment, when the type of the ribbon cassette 5 increases, the reflective seal 24 that forms the identification mark 23 is used.
The arrangement and pitch of the non-reflective portions 24a can be easily dealt with by differing from those of the existing reflective seal 24, so that the structure of the conventional sensor for detecting the type of the ribbon cassette 5 is complicated and expensive. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the disadvantage that the cost of the entire thermal transfer printer is increased. Further, regardless of the type of the ink ribbon 17, the ribbon cassette 5 of this embodiment is
Are formed in the same shape and the same size, and such a ribbon cassette 5 can be efficiently formed by, for example, injection molding a resin using one type of molding die. In addition, the labor required for production management, storage, inventory management, and the like of the ribbon cassette 5 can be reduced, and a small variety of mass production can be performed, thereby reducing costs.

Further, according to the thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment, since each ribbon cassette 5 is attached to a predetermined position of the canopy 19, the identification mark 23 of each ribbon cassette 5 from the home position of the carriage 4 is shown in FIG. The distance to the right end in is set to a constant value, and the moving distance (current position) of the carriage 4 with respect to the home position can be easily detected. That is, by counting the number of steps of the stepping motor that drives the carriage 4, the moving distance of the carriage 4 with respect to the home position can be easily detected. In other words, the home position can be easily detected. Then, the step number of the stepping motor corresponding to the distance from the predetermined home position to the identification mark 23 of each ribbon cassette 5 is compared with the actual step number of the stepping motor when the carriage 4 is driven. Thus, a change in the distance between the home position and the ribbon cassette 5 can be detected. Further, since the position of the identification mark 23 of each ribbon cassette 5 can be detected,
A change in the distance between the ribbon cassettes 5 due to the temperature can be detected. As a result, the carriage 4 can be accurately opposed to the ribbon cassette 5 when the ribbon cassette 5 is replaced. Further, the temperature of each part of the thermal transfer printer 1 can be corrected by a change in temperature based on a change in distance.

Further, according to the thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment, since the ribbon cassette 5 is attached to the predetermined position of the canopy 19, when the canopy 19 is opened, the identification of the ribbon cassette 5 is performed. The mark 23 does not face the optical sensor 18a, and as a result, even when the carriage 4 is scanned, the optical sensor 18a cannot detect the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5. Using this, the open / closed state of the canopy 19 can be detected.

As described above, the thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment
According to this, the detection of the presence / absence and type of the ribbon cassette 5, the detection of the home position, the detection of the open / closed state of the canopy 19, and the like can be shared by one sensor 18, so that the overall cost can be reduced. Can be planned.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as needed.

[0037]

According Effect of the Invention] As described above in the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the provided identifying marks on the ribbon cassette, by detecting by a sensor provided with the identification mark on the carriage, a simple structure, the cassette holder In
It is possible to automatically determine the presence / absence of a ribbon cassette and various kinds of ribbon cassettes, and it is possible to make the sensor multifunctional, thereby achieving an extremely excellent effect that cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part of an embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a carriage.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 4 Carriage 4a Lower carriage 4b Upper carriage 5 Ribbon cassette 7 Thermal head 17, 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d Ink ribbon 18 Sensor 18a Optical sensor (as a sensor) 19 Canopy 23 Identification mark 24, 24A, 24B, 24C , 24D Reflective seal (as an identification mark) 24a Non-reflective part 25 Control part BP Reference position L Distance from reference position to right end face of non-reflective part located at right end

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 35/22 B41J 19/18 B41J 32/00 B41J 35/36

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A platen, a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen and on which a ribbon cassette can be mounted, and a plurality of carriages arranged at predetermined positions facing the carriage and capable of holding the ribbon cassettes respectively. Mosquito
And a set holder, holding the plurality of cassette holders
In a thermal transfer printer in which a desired ribbon cassette is selected from the held ribbon cassettes, automatically exchanged, and mounted on a carriage to perform printing, the type of ink ribbon stored in the ribbon cassette in the ribbon cassette An identification mark for identifying the identification mark, a sensor for detecting the identification mark is provided on the carriage, and a ribbon cassette is attached to each cassette holder based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying the movement of the carriage.
A thermal transfer printer provided with a control unit for determining whether or not the ink ribbon is held and for determining the type of ink ribbon stored in the held ribbon cassette. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to detect a moving distance of the carriage with respect to a home position based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying the movement of the carriage. 2. The thermal transfer printer according to 1. 3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to determine an open / closed state of the canopy based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying the movement of the carriage. 3. The thermal transfer printer according to 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to detect a change in a distance between the ribbon cassettes due to a temperature, based on an output signal from the sensor accompanying the movement of the carriage. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1.