JPH0347782A - Printing ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the necessity interrupting printing operation on the way of a line and to perform printing up to the end of the line by providing a ribbon left- quantity-little mark to the outer edge part of the tape region used in printing actually of a printing ribbon on this side separated from an ink terminal part over the length of the line capable of being printed by a printer. CONSTITUTION:A lead tape part 2 is formed to the end part of the printing ribbon 1 of a serial printer and an ink surface is formed only to the single surface of the printing ribbon 1 up to the position of the ink terminal part 3 becoming the boundary of said lead tape part 2. A ribbon left-quantity-little mark 5 is provided to the ribbon base member opposite to the ink surface at a place on this side separated from the ink terminal part 3 over the length of the line capable of being printed by a printer, that is, the length of a line printable tape part 4 or more. This ribbon left-quantity- little mark 5 is provided to the outer edge part A of a region B used in actual printing by trial at the time of printing on both sides or single side thereof. By using this printing ribbon, even when the mark 5 is detected by a ribbon left-quantity-little mark detection mechanism, since the space (tape part 4) corresponding to the length of a printing line or more is provided, it is unnecessary to immediately stop printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing ribbon, and more particularly to a printing ribbon used in a serial printer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a printing ribbon in such a serial printer has an ink member on one side, and a lead tape portion having no ink member at the end.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a printing ribbon showing an example of such a conventional printing ribbon.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional printing ribbon 1 has a lead tape section 2 formed at its end, and a ribbon end mark 6 at the boundary with the IJ-do tape section 2. There is.

Further, FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the vicinity of the ribbon end mark shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, this state is a state in which the end mark 6 is detected while printing the letter A using the ribbon 1. Note that the arrows indicate the printing direction.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional printing ribbon described above has a ribbon end mark at the end of the ribbon, so when the printer detects the ribbon end with the ribbon end mark detection mechanism, the printer stops printing at that point. , the printer's print head stops after a while.

For example, in FIG. 3, if the ribbon end mark 6 is detected at location Y while printing the letter "A",
The printing operation is stopped at that location Y. Then, by newly loading an unused ribbon into the printer, the print head returns to the required amount and then starts printing from location Y onwards. Therefore, there is a drawback that the continuity of the character line at the Y location cannot be maintained.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printing ribbon that can eliminate such interruptions in the middle of a line and maintain the continuity of character lines in a line.

[Means to solve the problem]

The printing ribbon of the present invention is a printing ribbon for a serial printer in which a lead tape portion is formed at the end and an ink surface is formed on only one side, and the printing ribbon has a ribbon remaining mark indicating that there is little ribbon remaining. It is provided at the outer edge of the tape area actually used for printing, at least the length of the line that can be printed by the printer, before the end of the ink that forms the boundary with the lead tape section.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a printing ribbon showing an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, a lead tape part 2 is formed at the end of a printing ribbon 1 of a serial printer, and the ink terminal part 3, which is the boundary of this lead tape part 2, is An ink surface is formed on only one side. Further, the ribbon remaining mark 5 is provided on the adhesive tape paste member opposite to the ink surface at a location in front of the ink terminal end 3 and at a distance of at least 4 line lengths that can be printed by the printer. It is being Moreover, this ribbon remaining mark 5 is located at part B, which is used for actual printing during printing.
provided on both sides or one side of the outer edge A of the

By using such a printing ribbon, even if the mark 5 is detected by the ribbon remaining mark detection mechanism (not shown), printing can be performed immediately because the space (tape portion 4) is larger than that required for printing. There's no need to stop. Therefore, the continuity of the character lines can be ensured without being interrupted in the middle.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the printing ribbon of the present invention, the ribbon remaining mark is provided at least the length of the line that can be printed by the printer before the end of the ink and at the outer edge of the tape area actually used for printing. As a result, even if the printer detects and outputs a ribbon remaining mark using its ribbon remaining mark detection mechanism, the printing operation is interrupted because the ribbon remaining mark is located at the outer edge of the tape area that is actually used for printing. This is no longer necessary, and printing can be performed to the end of the line. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid loss of continuity of lines of characters in a line.

2 is a plan view of a printing ribbon showing a conventional example, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the end mark of the ribbon shown in FIG. 2.

1... Ribbon, 2... Lead tape section, 3... Ink end section, 4... Line printable tape section, 5... Ribbon remaining mark, A... Actual used for printing. B... Tape area used for actual printing, X... Ribbon remaining mark position.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printing ribbon for a serial printer in which a lead tape portion is formed at the end and an ink surface is formed on only one side, a ribbon remaining mark indicating that there is little remaining ribbon is placed at the boundary with the lead tape portion. A printing ribbon characterized in that it is provided at least the length of a line that can be printed by a printer before the end of the ink, and at the outer edge of the tape area actually used for printing.