JPH02151469A - Thermal transfer recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize low cost by simplifying a mechanism by reading the data recorded on an ink sheet cartridge by a reading means for optically reading said data. CONSTITUTION:In a case setting an ink sheet cartridge 101 to a thermal transfer recording apparatus, a data recording medium part 102 is provided to a surface parallel to an insert direction. The data recording method of the data recording part 102 to the ink sheet cartridge 101 is based on a seal bonding method or a printing method. A data display system is according to a method for drawing lines having different thicknesses in the direction vertical to the insert direction or a method for drawing lines having the same thickness at different intervals. When the data recording part 102 moves the focus of a reading means 103 in parallel at the time of the setting of the ink sheet cartridge 101 to the thermal transfer recording apparatus, the quantity of the reflected light from a light emitting part is changed according to the state of the data recording part 102 and the state of the data recording part 102 can be detected and the kind of an ink sheet can be confirmed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that can use various ink sheets.

[Prior Art] A conventional thermal transfer recording device can automatically detect one to four types of ink sheets, such as a monochrome ink sheet, a color ink sheet, and an OHPHPO4 ink sheet.

A conventional detection mechanism is shown in FIG. Here, an example is shown in which five or four types of ink sheets are automatically detected, and the ink sheet cartridge 301 is provided with a data recording section 502 that records the types of ink sheets as binary data. If the data recording section 302 has two holes as in this example, 1. It is possible to detect the type of ink sheet up to 4 yl depending on the presence or absence of holes.

When the ink sheet cartridge 301 is set in the thermal transfer recording device, a switch 50 is a reading means for reading data recorded on the ink sheet cartridge 301.
6 and the data recording section 502 are opposed to each other. Data recording section 50
The depth of the hole in the data recording section 502 and the switch 50 are set so that when there is a hole in the data recording section 502, the switch 505 is turned off, and when there is no hole in the data recording section 302, the switch 503 is turned on.
Set position 6. In the example of FIG. 6, the data hole 502
Since there are two thin films, the switch 303 is off, and both detection signals indicate the "1" level.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the prior art described above, the data recording section 502 and the switch 60.
The number of 3 is determined. For example, if there are 5 to 8 types of ink sheets that can be used, the data recording unit 302
5 holes and 30 switches each. In this way, there are many types of ink sheets that can be used (as a result, it is necessary to increase the number of switches 505, which causes problems in that the mechanism becomes complicated and leads to an increase in cost.

The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its purpose is to simplify the mechanism and reduce costs by using a reading means that optically reads the data recorded on the ink sheet cartridge. We are here to provide you with a way to achieve this.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The thermal transfer recording device of the present invention includes an ink cartridge in which data of at least one of the ink sheet type and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge is recorded, and the data recorded in the ink sheet cartridge is optically recorded. The present invention is characterized in that it has a reading means for reading the ink sheet, and automatically detects the state of at least one of the type of ink sheet and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge.

[Function] According to the above structure of the present invention, data on at least one of the type of ink sheet and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge is recorded on the ink sheet cartridge. Further, the cursor removing means for optically reading the data is fixed inside the thermal transfer recording device.

Therefore, when setting an ink sheet cartridge inside a thermal transfer recording device, data on at least one of the type of ink sheet or the direction of the ink sheet cartridge is recorded on the ink sheet cartridge, and the data recording section optically reads the data. By crossing the means;
Data on at least one of the ink sheet type and the ink sheet cartridge direction can be converted into an electrical signal,
To automatically detect the state of at least one of the type of ink sheet and the direction of an ink sheet cartridge.

[Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention,
101 is an ink sheet cartridge; 102 is a data recording section that records data on at least one of the type of ink sheet and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge; and 103 is a data recording section that records data on at least one of the ink sheet type and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge; configured reading means.

Types of ink sheets include monochrome sheets and color sheets that can be thermally transferred onto rough paper, or 0HP (
Overhead projector) There are many types of paper, such as monochrome sheets and color sheets that can be thermally transfer-recorded on paper, and monochrome sheets and color sheets that can be multi-graded thermally transfer-recordable.

In order to achieve good recorded matter using the various ink sheets described above, it is necessary to control the amount of heat generated from the heating element of the thermal head depending on the type of ink sheet. For the above reasons, it is necessary for the thermal transfer recording apparatus to detect the type of ink sheet.

The method for determining the type of ink sheet will be described in detail below.

When the ink sheet cartridge 101 is set in the thermal transfer recording device in the direction of the arrow, the data recording section 102 is provided on a surface parallel to the insertion direction as shown. The data of the data recording unit 102 is recorded on the ink sheet cartridge 101 by applying a sticker or printing, or by making a slit or a hole when molding the ink sheet cartridge 101.

The data display method is to draw lines of different thickness in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction (or draw lines of the same thickness at different intervals (or, depending on the type of ink sheet) Draw lines that match the number of lines (for example, one line for monochrome sheets that can be thermally transferred to rough paper, two lines for color sheets,
There are six monochrome sheets that can be thermally transferred onto OHP paper.

Next, the reading means 103 is fixed inside the thermal transfer recording device, and when the ink cartridge 101, which is a reflective reading means, is set in the thermal transfer recording device, the data recording section 102 moves the focal point of the reading means 105 in parallel. .

Then, the amount of light reflected from the light emitting section changes depending on the state of the data recording section 102, so that the state of the data recording section 102 can be detected and the type of ink sheet can be recognized.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram in one embodiment of the present invention,
201 is an ink sheet cartridge; 202 is a data recording unit recording data on at least one of the type of ink sheet and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge;
Reference numeral 206 denotes a reading means composed of a light emitting section such as a light emitting diode and a light receiving section such as a phototransistor.

The difference from the first embodiment is that the data recording section 202 is in a slit state and the reading means 205 is of a transparent type. The other i+, 7 model and operation are the same.

Next, an example will be described below in which an ink sheet (hereinafter referred to as a multi-time ink sheet) in which the same portion of the ink sheet can be thermally transferred at least twice is used.

With a multi-time ink sheet, the ink sheet is used once, and when it reaches the end of the ink sheet, the ink sheet cartridge is taken out, and the ink sheet cartridge is replaced and installed, so that what used to be the ink sheet supply core can be replaced with a new one. The take-up core, which used to be the ink sheet take-up core, becomes the supply core. In order to replace the front and back of the ink sheet cartridge and install it, the ink sheet cartridge has a structure that is symmetrical with respect to the front and back and the left and right sides. However, the data recording section is t4a, which is line symmetrical with respect to the center of the ink sheet cartridge. Furthermore, when the user takes out and reinstalls the ink sheet cartridge, the direction data of the ink sheet cartridge is recorded in the data recording section to avoid using the same part multiple times. , a warning can be given if the same part of the coupon is mistakenly used multiple times.

Also, place the data recording section on the ink sheet cartridge.
If only two reading means are provided, two reading means are provided in the thermal transfer recording apparatus so that the data in the data recording section can be read.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the reader 9 optically reads data recorded on the ink sheet cartridge.
By reading in the ink sheet, the mechanism can be simplified and the price can be reduced. In addition, when the fM of the ink sheet increases, there is no need to change the mechanism of the thermal transfer recording device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the prior art. 101.201 501 Ink sheet cartridge 2 Data recording section 3 Reading means or higher

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a thermal transfer recording device that transfers and records ink from an ink sheet to recording paper using heat generated from a heating element of a thermal head, data on at least one of the type of ink sheet and the direction of an ink sheet cartridge is provided. It is characterized by having a recorded ink sheet cartridge and a reading means that optically reads the data recorded on the ink sheet cartridge and automatically detects the state of at least one of the type of the ink sheet and the direction of the ink sheet cartridge. Thermal transfer recording device.