JPH03169670A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the damage of a printing head or the damage such as cutting of an ink ribbon by moving a detection arm when the tension of the ink ribbon becomes larger or smaller than the force of a spring in an abnormal state to operate a detection unit by an operation piece. CONSTITUTION:When a spool 2 takes up an ink ribbon 1 in the direction shown by an arrow H, the tension of the ink ribbon 1 acting on the guide roller 3 provided to a detection arm 5 increases and the detection arm 5 moves inwardly against the force of a spring 8 and stops by the engagement of an operation piece 6 with a guide pin, and a lead switch 4 is operated by the operation piece 6 to detect the abnormal state of the ink ribbon 1. When the spool 2 takes up the ink ribbon 1 in the direction shown by an arrow 1, the tension of the ink ribbon 1 acting on the guide roller 3 provided to the detection arm 5 decreases and the detection arm 5 is pulled by the spring 8 against the tension of the ink ribbon 1 to move outwardly and engaged with a guide pin 7 to stop while the lead switch 4 is operated by the operation piece 6 to detect the abnormal state of the ink ribbon 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an impact type printer device used as an output device of a computer system, and particularly relates to an improvement in its ink ribbon abnormality detection mechanism.

[Prior art J Generally, impact printers print by mechanically pressing type onto the surface of printing paper, but the ink ribbon used at this time is kept stretched to the full width of the paper surface to be printed. If the ink ribbon is used incorrectly, it may become detached from the print head or jam in the print head, so a detection mechanism was installed to detect this abnormality in the ink ribbon.

Figure 3 shows the printing unit of an impact printer equipped with a conventional detection mechanism for detecting abnormal conditions of the ink ribbon. (17) is a ribbon mask provided to prevent the printing paper from getting dirty; (9) is the ribbon mask (17) that is applied to the printing paper from above. The print head that prints, (1g) is the carriage on which this print head is mounted and is moved each time printing, (19) is the shaft that guides the movement of this carriage (l8), (l) is the ribbon ゜7 disk (17) The ink ribbon (2) is disposed between the print head (9) and the print head (9).
1), a guide roller (3) guides the ink ribbon (1) that runs by being wound around this subule (2), and (20) a permanent guide roller provided on one of the guide rollers. The magnet (21) is a magnetic sensor that detects this permanent magnet (20) and outputs a pulse.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained. First, set the printer device offline, move the print head (9) mounted on the carriage (l8) in the direction of arrows A and B in the figure, and set the gap C to an appropriate value according to the paper thickness of the printing paper (l6). do. Normally, this gap setting is mechanically switched in 6 to IO steps (not shown) and is manually performed by an operator. Next, when this printer device is switched to the online state and data input manually from the computer system is received, the print head (9) moves in the direction of arrow D or E in the figure, and the ink ribbon (
1) The above data is printed on printing paper (16).

Subur (2) parallel to the printing operation of the print head (9)
performs winding, and when one spool (2) winds up in the H direction, the ink ribbon (1) runs in the direction of arrow F, and when this spool (2) winds up completely, the ribbon travel is reversed. The other subur (2) takes up the ink ribbon in the direction of the arrow (■), and the ink ribbon (1) runs in the direction of the arrow G. This operation is sequentially repeated to execute the printing operation. During the printing operation, the magnetic sensor (21) detects the permanent magnet installed on the rotating guide roller (3) and outputs pulses at a constant cycle, but if there is a mistake in setting the gap C or other If the ink ribbon (1) jams in the print head (9) for some reason, remove the ink ribbon (1).
The running speed of the ink ribbon (1) suddenly slows down and the period of the output pulse of the magnetic sensor (2L) becomes longer.
An abnormal condition is detected.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the ink ribbon abnormality detection mechanism of the conventional printer device is configured as described above, it is difficult for the operator to check the gap C.
If you mistakenly set gap C narrow when the printing paper is thick, the print head (9
) When an abnormality occurs such as a jam in the ink ribbon (1) at the part of the ink ribbon (1), the running speed of the ink ribbon (1) suddenly slows down, and the abnormal condition can be detected. There was a risk of damage such as damage to the print head (9) or cutting of the ink ribbon (1).

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an ink ribbon abnormality detection mechanism for a printer device that can prevent damages such as damage to the print head and breakage of the ink ribbon. do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An ink ribbon abnormality detection mechanism of a printer device according to the present invention includes a detection unit that detects an abnormal state of the ink ribbon and outputs a signal, an actuation piece that operates this detection unit, and the ink ribbon. and a detection arm biased by a spring in a direction that balances the tension acting on the guide roller when the ink ribbon runs normally and in a direction that activates the detection unit. That's what happens.

[Function] In the ink ribbon abnormality detection mechanism of the present invention, when the ink ribbon is running normally, the tension of the ink ribbon and the force of the spring are balanced and the detection arm does not move.
When the tension of the ink ribbon becomes greater than the force of the spring in an abnormal state, the above-mentioned detection arm is pulled by the ink ribbon and moves inward, and the detection unit is activated by the actuating piece, and conversely, the tension of the ink ribbon becomes less than the force of the spring. Then, the detection arm is pulled by the spring and moves outward, and the detection unit is activated by the actuating piece to output an abnormality signal.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of a printer device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the ink ribbon running system of the above-mentioned printer apparatus, and printing parts not shown are omitted because they are the same as those of the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. In Figure 1, (l) is an ink ribbon, (
2) is a subule that winds up this ink ribbon to run it, (3) is a guide so that the ink ribbon (1) wound around this subule (2) runs smoothly, and an idle roller (4) is a roller that guides the ink ribbon (1) to run smoothly. This is a reed switch that serves as a detection unit that detects abnormal conditions of the ribbon (+) and outputs a signal. Two reed switches (4) are arranged close to each other in parallel. (5) indicates these reed switches. The detection arm has an actuation piece (6) made of a permanent magnet and a guide roller (3) marked -L.By moving this detection arm (5) along the guide bin (7), the actuation piece (6) is activated. ) is arranged so as to overlap the reed switch (4) at a close distance, and balances the tension acting on the guide roller (3) when the ink ribbon (1) is running normally. It is biased by a spring (8).

Next, the operation of this device will be explained. When the ink ribbon (1) is running normally under normal usage conditions, the ink ribbon (1) always runs with a substantially constant tension maintained. In this state, the detection arm (5)
Since the actuating piece (6) is located between the two reed switches (4), the reed switch (4) does not operate. However, when the operator mistakenly sets the gap C between the print head (9) and the platen (lO) to be narrower than the appropriate value, the ink ribbon (1)
0) and the print head (9) while trying to continue running. At this time, if the subur (2) is winding in the direction of arrow H, the tension of the ink ribbon (1) acting on the guide roller (3) provided on the detection arm (5) increases, causing the detection arm (5) to The actuating piece (6) moves inward against the force of the spring (8) and stops when the actuating piece (6) engages with the guide bin, and the actuating piece (6) actuates the reed switch (4), causing the ink ribbon ( 1) Detect the abnormal state. Also, Subur (2) is an arrow! When the ink ribbon (1) is wound up in the direction, the tension of the ink ribbon (1) acting on the guide roller (3) provided on the detection arm (5) decreases, and the detection arm (5) resists the tension of the ink ribbon (1). Tebane (
8) and moves outward to engage with the guide bin (7) and stop. At the same time, the reed switch (4>) is activated by the actuating piece (6) to detect an abnormal condition of the ink ribbon (1). As described above, an abnormal state of the ink ribbon (1) can be quickly detected even when the subur (2) is wound in either the H direction or the 1 direction, and the reed switch (4 ) from the operation panel (
(not shown) or generates an alarm to prompt the operator to take recovery measures, and when the reed switch (4) is activated, the printing operation is automatically switched from the online state to the offline state. It will stop and no further data reception will be accepted. In this way, it is possible to prevent data loss, where some data is not printed, and to prevent major damage such as damage to the print head (9) or cutting of the ink ribbon (1). .

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the printer device according to the present invention, and is a plan view showing a part of the ink ribbon running system of the printer device. Portions not shown are omitted because they are the same as those in the first embodiment. In Figure 2, (l)
is an ink ribbon, (3) is a guide roller that guides this ink ribbon (1) to run smoothly, and (5) is a guide roller that guides the ink ribbon (1) to run smoothly.
) has two actuating pieces (6) for actuating the photosensor (11) as a detection unit of the guide roller (3), and is rotatably supported on a rotary wheel (12), and the ink ribbon ( The detection arm is biased by a spring (8) so as to balance the tension of the ink ribbon (1) acting on the guide roller (3) when the ink ribbon (1) is running normally. Note that the photosensor (11) has a light emitting section (l3
), a light receiving part (l4), and a hollow intermediate part (15) located between these parts, and this intermediate part (15) is connected to the actuating piece (6
) is activated by shielding.

In the second embodiment, when the ink ribbon (1) is running normally, neither of the two actuation pieces (6) of the detection arm (5) actuates the photosensor (11). , when the ink ribbon (1) is in an abnormal state,
As in the first embodiment, the tension of the ink ribbon (1) increases or decreases depending on the winding direction of the spool (2), and the detection arm (5) rotates left and right accordingly.
) shields the intermediate portion (15), thereby activating the photosensor (l1) to detect an abnormal state of the ink ribbon (1).

In addition, in the first embodiment, two reed switches (4) and one actuating piece (6) are provided; Place the detection arm (5) in parallel across the reed switch (4).
) may be provided.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an abnormal state of the ink ribbon is detected by detecting an increase/decrease in the tension of the ink ribbon, so that an abnormal state can be detected promptly. This has the effect of providing a printer device that can prevent paper losses such as damage to the print head, breakage of the ink ribbon, and data omission.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an ink ribbon running system of a printer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a part of an ink ribbon running system of a printer device according to another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a printing section of a conventional printer device. In the figure, (l) is an ink ribbon, (2) is a spool (3) is a guide roller, and (4) is a reed switch (detection unit). (5) is a detection arm, and (6) is an actuation piece. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an impact-type printer device that prints using an ink ribbon that runs with a plurality of guide rollers as a guide, there is provided a detection unit that detects an abnormal state of the ink ribbon and outputs a signal, an actuation piece that operates this unit, and the guide. A printer device comprising a detection arm having a roller and biased by a spring in a direction to actuate the detection unit so as to balance the tension acting on the guide roller during normal running of the ink ribbon. .