JPH02165986A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the presence of a ribbon and the slip-off of the ribbon by one sensor by installing a reflection type photosensor near the nose of the central section of a printing head. CONSTITUTION:A control section 4 recognizes the presence of an ink ribbon by the signal of a reflection type photosensor 1 positioned near the nose of the central section of a printing head 3 on printing. When a printing signal 6 is received by the control section 4, printing is started by a printing driving section 5 when there is the ink ribbon 2 by the signal of the reflection type photosensor 1, and printing is not executed and an alarm is output when there is no ink ribbon 2. When the control section 4 recognizes the absence of the ribbon by the signal of the reflection type photosensor 1 during the reception of the printing signal, it decides the absence of the ribbon as the slip-off of the ribbon, and suspends printing and outputs the alarm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to an ink ribbon detection mechanism.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional printers were only equipped with a mechanism to detect the presence or absence of an ink ribbon cartridge.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Since the conventional printer described above only detects the presence or absence of an ink ribbon cartridge, it has the disadvantage that it cannot detect when the ribbon has come off.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printer that solves the above problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the printer according to the present invention includes a reflective optical sensor near the central tip of the print head of the printer for detecting the presence or absence of an ink ribbon and the displacement of the ink ribbon.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, according to the present invention, a reflective optical sensor 1 is located near the tip of the central portion of the print head 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control section of the present invention.

When printing, the control unit 4 recognizes the presence or absence of an ink ribbon based on the signal from the reflective optical sensor 1.

When the control unit 4 receives the print signal 6, if the ink ribbon 2 is present based on the signal from the reflective optical sensor 1, the printing drive unit 5 starts printing. If there is no ink ribbon 2, printing will not be performed and an alarm will be output. Further, when the control unit 4 recognizes that there is no ribbon from the signal from the reflective optical sensor 1 while receiving the print signal, it determines that the ribbon is out of place, stops printing, and outputs an alarm.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention has the effect that by having a reflective optical sensor near the tip of the central portion of the print head, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a ribbon and the ribbon displacement using a single sensor.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control section. 1... Reflective optical sensor 2... Ink ribbon 3.
...Print head 4...Control unit 5...Print drive unit 6...Print signal Patent applicant NEC Corporation Representative Patent attorney Naka Kanno Figure 1 6, Printing license number

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A printer characterized by having a reflective optical sensor near the central tip of a print head of the printer for detecting the presence or absence of an ink ribbon and the displacement of the ink ribbon.