JPH01186344A - Thermal transfer serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the rubbing of an ink ribbon after the finish of printing by providing a control means for controlling the driving of a carriage in the direction reverse to a printing direction before a printing head returns to a non-printing position after the stop of printing. CONSTITUTION:A spacing motor 1, a ribbon motor 2, a head motor 3 and a control part (CPU) 4 for controlling the operations of said motors are provided and, after the feed of a carriage and that of a ribbon are stopped, the CPU 4 drives the spacing motor 1 in such a state that a printing head is present at a printing position and moves the carriage in the reverse direction by definite quantity to slacken an ink ribbon. Thereafter, the head motor 3 is driven to set the head at a non-printing position. Since the tension state of the ink ribbon can be released by this method, even when the printing head is returned to the non-printing position thereafter, the ink ribbon is not vibrated and the rubbing of printing paper with the ribbon can be prevented.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a thermal transfer serial printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer serial printer capable of bidirectional printing.

2. Description of the Related Art Various printers are widely used as output devices for computer systems used in the information processing field. Among these, printers that use a printing method that expresses character patterns using a dot matrix have become rapidly popular in recent years because they are more flexible than type printers when it comes to adding or changing printing types. In particular, thermal transfer serial printers are easy to construct, generate little noise, and are inexpensive, so demand for them is increasing for personal use such as terminal systems.

In conventional thermal transfer serial printers of this type, when printing ends, the carriage and ribbon stop, and the thermal transfer print head returns to the non-printing position.
At this time, the ink ribbon pulled by the ribbon motor is under tension, so at the timing when the head returns to the non-printing position, the ink ribbon under tension vibrates and scrapes the printing paper. This has the drawback that fine sliver-like noise is generated on the printing paper, resulting in a decrease in print quality.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer serial printer in which the ink ribbon does not rub after printing is completed.

Structure of the Invention According to the present invention, a ribbon cassette storing a thermal transfer ink ribbon, a ribbon motor for driving the ink ribbon, a print head, the ribbon cassette and the ribbon motor, and a printing device equipped with the print head are installed. A thermal transfer serial printer comprising: a carriage that moves left and right during operation; and a control means that drives and controls the carriage in a direction opposite to the printing direction before the print head returns to a non-printing position after printing has stopped. is obtained.

Embodiment Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention includes a spacing motor 1 that drives a carriage on which a thermal transfer print head is mounted, a ribbon motor 2 that drives an ink ribbon, and a spacing motor 2 that drives an ink ribbon to move the print head between a printing position and a non-printing position. The head motor 3 has a head motor 3 that is driven between positions, and a control unit (CPU) 4 that controls the operations of these motors 1 to 3.

The operation of the embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. After the carriage and ribbon feeding stop at the end of printing, the head remains in the printing position (with the head pressed against the platen).
U4 drives the spacing motor 1 to move the carriage in the opposite direction by a certain amount to slacken the ink ribbon. Thereafter, the head motor 3 is driven to place the head in a non-printing position.

By doing this, the tensioned ink ribbon can be loosened and the tension released, so even if the print head is subsequently returned to the non-printing position, the ink ribbon will not vibrate due to the return timing. This prevents the printing paper from rubbing against the ribbon.

Effects of the Invention Like soft soil, according to the present invention, even when the ink ribbon is pulled by the ribbon motor and stops under tension,
Since the carriage is immediately driven in the opposite direction to the printing direction to release the tension, the ink ribbon does not rub against the printing paper due to the subsequent movement of the head to return to the printing position, which improves printing quality. This has the effect that it is expected to improve the

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation of the blocks in FIG. Explanation of symbols of main parts 1... Spacing motor 2... Ribbon motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A ribbon cassette containing a thermal transfer ink ribbon, a ribbon motor that drives the ink ribbon, a print head, the ribbon cassette and the ribbon motor, and the print head are mounted and move left and right during printing operation. A thermal transfer serial printer comprising: a carriage; and a control means for driving and controlling the carriage in a direction opposite to the printing direction before the print head returns to a non-printing position after printing has stopped.