JPH01262179A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a recording apparatus reduced in noise level and excellent in durability by dispensing with the stopper of an ink ribbon cassette, by mounting a terminal sensor for detecting the terminal of the effective part of an ink ribbon and detecting the position of the part used in recording of the ribbon in the lateral direction of the ribbon. CONSTITUTION:An end sensor 17 for detecting the terminal of the effective part of an ink ribbon 9 is provided on a carriage 3 so as to be opposed to the tensioned part used in printing of the ink ribbon 9 at a predetermined position in the vicinity of the inside of the leading end part of one arm 10a of a ribbon cassette 10 and, in order to detect the terminal of the light detection part of the ink ribbon 9, an end mark area constituted so as to be markedly increased in reflectivity is provided to the terminal part of the ink ribbon 9. The output level of the end sensor 17 is changed according to whether the effective part of the ink ribbon 9 or the end mark part having high reflectivity thereof is located at the position of a detection point reflecting the light from the light emitting element of the end sensor 17 and the end mark is detected to detect the terminal of the effective part of the ink ribbon 9.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a recording device, and particularly to a printing device that uses an ink ribbon such as a type impact type electronic typewriter and shifts the ribbon in its width direction for recording. This relates to a recording device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in this type of recording apparatus, when on standby when not recording, the ink ribbon is shifted downward so that it does not become an obstacle to reading recorded characters, that is, printed characters, and when recording, the ink ribbon is shifted in front of the recording head. Many devices require a ribbon shift mechanism to shift the ribbon, and high-end types of this type of device are equipped with a so-called end sensor that detects the end of the effective part of the ink ribbon. A configuration is adopted that stops recording.

On the other hand, in this type of apparatus, as shown in FIG. 7, an ink ribbon 19 whose width is slightly larger than the maximum print height shown by A to F is used, and the entire width of the ribbon is used for printing one character. Common.

In contrast, in recent years, in order to increase the capacity that can be used for printing on consumable ink ribbons, ink ribbons with large ribbon widths have been used, and the ink ribbons have been shifted in multiple stages in the width direction, and used in multiple stages in the width direction. A device has been developed that can perform printing using the following methods. FIG. 8 shows an example of its use. In this case, the ink ribbon 9 has a ribbon width of A to F.
Use a piece slightly larger than three times the maximum print height shown in , and divide it into three stages in the width direction of the ribbon, each used for printing one character, in the order of the upper, middle, and lower stages as shown by the arrows. It is used for printing after being shifted sequentially.

In an apparatus that performs such multi-stage printing, a motor such as a step motor that can accurately control the position is used to control the shift in the width direction of the ink ribbon with high precision. In such a device, the shift position of the ink ribbon becomes undefined when the device is powered off, so immediately after the device is powered on, the part of the ink ribbon used for printing is moved to a predetermined initial shift position. It is necessary to accurately shift the printer to the standby position during non-printing.

Conventionally, for this purpose, a dedicated sensor was provided to detect the position of the used part of the ink ribbon in the ribbon width direction, and it was possible to determine where the used part of the ink ribbon was in the ribbon width direction when the power was turned on. One method is to detect the ink ribbon using the sensor and input it to the control system, and the other is to rotate the ink ribbon cassette containing the ink ribbon in one direction in the width direction of the ribbon and collide with a predetermined stopper to forcibly position it at the initial position. It is taken.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the former method described above has a problem in that it requires a high cost to provide a dedicated sensor and its detection circuit in order to detect the position of the ink ribbon in the width direction. Further, in the latter method, noise is generated when the ink ribbon cassette collides with the stopper. Additionally, there is a problem in that the durability of the device is impaired due to the impact caused by the collision.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in a recording apparatus that uses an ink ribbon and shifts the ribbon in its width direction for recording, and to provide a portion of the ink ribbon used for recording with an inexpensive configuration. The object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that detects the position of the ribbon in the width direction of the ribbon, and that has low noise and excellent durability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a recording apparatus that uses an ink ribbon and shifts the ribbon in its width direction for recording, in which an effective portion of the ribbon is used for recording. In a recording device equipped with an end sensor for detecting the end of
The end sensor is configured to detect the position of a portion of the ribbon used for recording in the width direction of the ribbon.

[Function] According to this configuration, the position of the ink ribbon in the ribbon width direction is detected using the end sensor, so the configuration can be made at a lower cost than when a dedicated sensor is provided. Further, unlike the method of positioning the ink ribbon cassette at the initial position by colliding with a stopper, there is no generation of reciting noise, and there are no problems with the durability of the apparatus due to the impact of the collision.

[Example] DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Details of embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a recording component as a main part of a type impact type electronic typewriter which performs multi-stage printing as shown in FIG. 8 described above as an embodiment of the present invention. In the configuration shown in the figure, first, reference numeral 1 is a platen which serves as a recording table and a paper feed roller, which winds and supports the printing paper 2, and rotates as shown by arrow C by the drive of a paper feed motor (not shown) to rotate the printing paper. 2 is sent as shown by the arrow.

A guide shaft 4 is installed parallel to the platen 1 below the front side of the platen 1 that supports the printing paper 2, and a carriage 3 is slidably supported on the guide shaft 4. The carriage 3 is moved parallel to the platen 1 on the guide shaft 4 by the drive of a carriage motor (not shown) in the direction of arrow F,
It is designed to slide in the R direction.

A card holder 5 for guiding the printing paper 2 along the platen 1 is provided on the front surface of the carriage 3 facing the platen 1. Further, a type wheel 7 is mounted on the carriage 3 behind the card holder 5, and is rotated by driving the wheel (not shown). Further, behind the type wheel 7, a printing hammer 8 is provided as a recording head for hitting the type on the type wheel 7.

Further, on the carriage 3 are arms 10a and 10b that store the ink ribbon 9 and stretch the part of the ribbon 9 used for printing.
An ink ribbon cassette (hereinafter abbreviated as ribbon cassette) 10 having an ink ribbon cassette is detachably attached thereto.

The ribbon cassette 10 is detachably held and attached to the ribbon frame 11, which is a cassette holding member provided on the carriage 3, via claw members 13.13 provided on both sides of the ribbon frame 11. There is. The ribbon frame 11 is provided on the carriage 3 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows A and B about an axis 12, and is rotated in the direction of arrows A and B by a spring 14 stretched between the ribbon frame 11 and the main body of the carriage 3. It is designed to be energized. A rack 15 is protruded from the lower right end of the free end of the ribbon frame 11 in the figure, and is engaged with a pinion gear 16 that is rotationally driven by a shift motor (not shown) that shifts the ink ribbon 9.

When the pinion gear 16 is rotationally driven in the a direction or the b direction by the drive of the shift motor, the ribbon frame 11 is rotated in the a direction or the b direction via the rack 15, and the ribbon cassette 10 is accordingly rotated. Move arm 10a.

The part of the ink ribbon 9 stretched between the SOBs used for printing is shifted in the vertical direction in the figure. It is assumed that the shift motor (not shown) is composed of a step tanabata.

On the other hand, further on the carriage 3, an end sensor 17 for detecting the end of the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is installed near the inside of the tip of one arm 10a of the ribbon cassette 10, as shown in FIG. It is provided at a predetermined position to face the tension section used for Although not shown in detail, the end sensor 17 is configured as a reflective optical sensor consisting of a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode and a light receiving element such as a phototransistor that receives reflected light from the light emitted from the light emitting element. In order to detect the end of the light-receiving portion of the ink ribbon 9 by the end sensor 17, an end mark region is provided at the end of the ink ribbon 9, the reflectance of which is much higher than that of the effective portion. Here, it is assumed that the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is black in color and the end mark area is white. Then, the end sensor 17 faces the end sensor 17.
The output level of the end sensor 17 changes depending on whether the effective part of the ink ribbon 9 is located at the detection point that reflects the light emitted from the light emitting element or the end mark part with high reflectance is located. The end of the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is detected.

On the other hand, as will be described later, by detecting the upper edge of the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9, the position of the stretched portion in the ribbon width direction is set to a predetermined initial position of the ribbon shift position (standby position during non-printing). In order to detect whether or not the ink ribbon is present, as shown in FIG. A structured back sheet 6 is attached. Here, it is assumed that the back sheet 6 is also configured in white.

As will be described later, the position of the ink ribbon 9 in the ribbon width direction is detected depending on whether the end sensor 17 detects the back sheet 6 having a high reflectance depending on the position of the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 in the ribbon width direction. Ru.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the typewriter of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the configuration of the control system shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 22 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls the entire typewriter.
Connected to the CPU 22 are a ROM (read only memory) 20 that stores control programs and fixed data necessary for control, and a RAM (random access memory) 21 that is used for temporary storage of print data and as a working area. has been done. The CPU 22 also has the above-mentioned printing hammer 8, a wheel motor 30 that rotates the type wheel 7, a carriage motor 31 that drives the carriage 3, and a platen 1 via an input/output port 23 and drive circuits 24 to 29, respectively. A paper feed motor 32 rotates to feed the printing paper 2, a ribbon feed motor 33 rotates and drives a take-up reel (not shown) in the ribbon cassette 10 to feed the ink ribbon 9, and a binion gear 16 rotates to feed the ink ribbon. A shift motor 34 that performs nine shifts is connected. Furthermore, the CPU 22 is connected to the keyboard 35, which is an operation input section for inputting print data via the input/output board 23, and the aforementioned end sensor 17. In addition to the above, a typewriter display and other sensor groups are connected to the CPU 22, but their illustration and description will be omitted.

Under such a configuration, the CPU 22 performs control processing according to the control program stored in the ROM 20, using the RAM 21 as a temporary storage of print data, a working area, etc. It controls the motor 30, carriage motor 31, paper feed motor 32, ribbon feed motor 33, shift motor 34, etc., and prints the print data input from the keyboard 35. Further, the end sensor 17 is used to detect the end of the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9, and also to detect the initial position of the shift position in the ribbon width direction of the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 used for printing.

Next, the operation of the typewriter of this embodiment will be explained.

For printing, first, when a command to print one character is input from the keyboard 35, the type wheel 7 is rotated, and the type corresponding to the inputted print data is positioned at the striking position of the print hammer 9. 8 is driven and hits the type, and the type moves the ink ribbon 9 onto the printing paper 2 on the platen 1.
By hitting the paper, an ink pattern corresponding to the type of characters is transferred to the printing paper 2, and one character is printed. 1
When printing of a character is completed, the carriage 3 is moved, for example, in the direction F in FIG. 1 by a predetermined pitch corresponding to one character, and by repeating this, one line is printed.

When one line of printing is completed, the platen 1 is rotated in the C direction, and the printing paper 2 is fed in the D direction by a predetermined pitch of one line, thereby performing a line feed.

By the way, when the typewriter of this embodiment is powered on, the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 is shifted to a predetermined initial position (standby position during non-printing). During printing, a shift to three printing positions is performed as shown in FIG. Furthermore, if print data is not input continuously, the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 is shifted to the above-mentioned standby position during that time. The CP in FIG. 3 controls such a shift operation.
Details of the control operation of U22 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (A) to
This will be explained below with reference to (D). Figure 4 shows ROM20
3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the CPU 22 corresponding to a control program stored in the computer. Also, Fig. 5(A)-'(D)
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of shift position detection and shift operation.

First, when the electronic typewriter is powered off, the ribbon frame 11 is rotated in the direction B by the bias of the spring 14 in the configuration shown in FIG. The portion is shifted to a position further below the predetermined initial position (standby position during non-printing) which is below the impact position (printing position) of the type on the type wheel 7, and is positioned relative to the card holder 5 as shown in FIG. It has been shifted to the position shown in A). That is, the ink ribbon 9 has been shifted to a position facing the lower part of the backsheet 6. In the figure, reference numeral 18 indicates a detection point where the end sensor 1f performs detection.

In this state, the ink ribbon 9 is below the detection point 18, and the end sensor 17 detects a white portion of the backsheet 6 with high reflectance.

When the electronic typewriter is turned on from this state,
First, the CPU 22 checks in step S1 of FIG. 4 whether or not the end sensor, that is, the white portion of the back sheet 6 is detected. If the detection output is black, that is, if the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is detected, then the position of the ink ribbon 9 in the ribbon width direction is not in the position shown in FIG. For example, processing is performed to notify the abnormality through a display device (not shown) or the like, and printing operations are prohibited until the abnormality is resolved.

On the other hand, if the output of the end sensor 17 is white and in a normal state, step S3. By repeating the loop of S4, the shift motor 34 of the step motor is driven one step at a time until the detection output of the end sensor 17 becomes black, that is, until the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is detected.
The stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 is shifted upward by a displacement amount corresponding to the one step described above.

With this operation, the ink ribbon 9 shifts to the position shown in FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B), and when the upper edge of the ink ribbon 9 hits the detection point 18, the detection output of the end sensor 17 becomes black. Assuming that the upper edge of the ink ribbon 9 is detected in step S5, the shift operation is stopped in step S6, and the ink ribbon 9 is placed on standby at the position shown in FIG. 5(B).

That is, the position shown in FIG. 5(B) is the initial position for shifting the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 in the width direction, and is the standby position during non-printing.

Next, in this state, wait for a print command to be input from the keyboard 35, and when the print command is input in step S7, the process advances to step S8, and the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 is moved as shown in FIG. 5(B).
The ink ribbon 9 is shifted upward from the position shown in FIG. 5(C) to the upper printing position of the ink ribbon 9. In this state, the ink ribbon 9 faces the detection point 18 of the end sensor 17, and the white of the back sheet 6 is not detected.

Next, in step S9, the ribbon feed motor 33 is driven as necessary to feed the ink ribbon 9 in the direction E in FIG. 2 by a pitch corresponding to the printing pitch.

Next, in step 310, it is checked whether the detection output of the end sensor 17 is white, that is, whether the end sensor 17 is detecting the white end mark of the ink ribbon 9.
If not, the above-described one-character printing operation is performed in step S12.

Next, in step S13, it is checked whether or not there is a manual command to print continuously from the keyboard 35, and if there is, the process returns to step S8 and the following process is repeated. Shift to the printing position and print sequentially. FIG. 5(D) shows a state in which the ink ribbon 9 is shifted to the lower printing position and printing is performed.

On the other hand, if the printing commands are not consecutive, step S14
Then, the ink ribbon 9 is shifted to the standby position shown in FIG. 5(B) so that the typewriter user can see the printed characters. Then, the process returns to step S6 and the following processing is repeated.

Printing is performed sequentially by repeating the processes from step 56 onwards or from step S8 onwards, and accordingly, the ink ribbon 9 is sequentially fed in the direction E in FIG. 2 and used. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the white end mark 9a of the ink ribbon 9 faces the detection point 18 of the end sensor 17, and in step S10 the end sensor 1
When the detection output 7 becomes white, the process proceeds to step Sll, where the end of the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is detected and processing is performed to notify the user of this fact, and subsequent printing operations are prohibited.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the end sensor 17 for detecting the end of the effective portion of the ink ribbon 9 is used to detect the upper edge of the stretched portion of the ink ribbon 9 used for printing. Since the initial position of the shift position of the ribbon 9 in the ribbon width direction (standby position during non-printing) is detected, the width of the ink ribbon 9 can be adjusted with a cheaper configuration compared to the case where a separate dedicated sensor and its detection circuit are provided. The position in the direction can be detected. Further, according to this embodiment, the noise that occurs in the conventional structure in which the ribbon cassette collides with the stopper and is positioned at the initial shift position is not generated, and the noise during operation can be reduced accordingly. Furthermore, there is no impact problem caused by collision between the ribbon cassette and the stopper, and the durability of the device can be improved.

Note that even in the device shown in Fig. 7, which uses a normal narrow ink ribbon and uses the full width of the ink ribbon to print one character, the initial position of the shift position of the ink ribbon in the ribbon width direction can be accurately controlled. Of course, when it is necessary to carry out the same operation, the same structure as the above-mentioned embodiment can be applied and the same effect can be expected.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a recording apparatus that uses an ink ribbon and shifts the ribbon in its width direction for recording, in which the end of the effective portion of the ribbon is In a recording apparatus equipped with an end sensor for detecting the end of the ink ribbon, the end sensor is used to detect the position in the width direction of the ribbon of the portion of the ribbon used for recording. This provides excellent effects such as being able to detect the position in the width direction of the ribbon of the portion used for recording, reducing the noise of the device, and improving the durability of the device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of the recording mechanism of an electronic typewriter according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vicinity of the end sensor in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control system of the typewriter. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control processing procedure mainly related to the ink ribbon shift operation by the CPU in FIG. 3, and FIGS. An explanatory diagram of the detection of the shift position in the width direction and the shift operation, Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of detecting the end of the ink ribbon, Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a normal ink ribbon and its usage state, and Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the multi-stage ink ribbon. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an ink ribbon for printing and its usage state. 1... Platen 2... Printing paper 3... Carriage 5... Card holder 6... Back sheet 7... Type wheel 8... Printing hammer
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Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A recording device that uses an ink ribbon for recording by shifting the ribbon in its width direction, and is equipped with an end sensor for detecting the end of an effective portion of the ribbon. 2. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end sensor is used to detect the position of a portion of the ribbon used for recording in the width direction of the ribbon. 2) Check whether the portion of the ribbon used for recording is at a predetermined position in the ribbon width direction by shifting the portion of the ribbon used for recording in the ribbon width direction and detecting the side edge of the ribbon by the end sensor. The recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the recording device is configured to detect whether or not the recording device has been used.