JPH0356369Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a color ink ribbon in which a detection mark is provided on the color ink ribbon for ink color detection and ink ribbon end detection in a thermal transfer printing device. .

A thermal transfer printing device heats an ink ribbon coated with heat-fusible solid ink on a film of polyester or the like from the back and transfers the ink onto recording paper to produce desired characters and figures.

As an ink ribbon for this color printing, three colors are available.
So-called color ink ribbons with three or four colors of the primary colors yellow, magenta, and cyan, or black in addition to these are mainly used, and are printed in a single color or in a mixture of colors to achieve seven-color printing.

Generally, there is one shown in FIG. 1 as this type of printing apparatus.

FIG. 1 shows a line-sequential printing device, in which 1 is a color ink ribbon, 1a is a black ink portion of the color ink ribbon 1, 1b is a yellow ink portion, 2 is a thermal head, 3 is a recording paper, and 4 is a A take-up reel for winding up the color ink ribbon 1, 5 a reel for taking out the color ink ribbon 1, and 6 a detector for detecting the ink color of the color ink ribbon 1.

Figure 2 is a color scheme of this color ink ribbon 1, where 1a is a black ink part, 1b is a yellow ink part, and 1c is a color scheme of the color ink ribbon 1.
1d is a magenta ink portion, and 1d is a cyan ink portion, which are repeated as one block over the entire length of the color ink ribbon 1.

Next, the printing operation will be explained.

Color ink ribbon 1 is taken up by take-up reel 4
At the same time, the desired ink color is detected by the detector 6. After detection, the color ink ribbon 1 is moved by the take-up reel 4 to the position corresponding to the printing position.
feed and stop. Next, printing is performed on the recording paper 3 via the color ink ribbon 1 by underwater scanning of the thermal head 2.

Here, the detector 6 used is a transmission type or reflection type detector that uses light, and each detects the ink color based on the difference in transmittance or reflectance of each color of the color ink ribbon 1. There is.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the spectral reflectance of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan inks. 1a is the reflectance curve for the black ink part, 1b is the reflectance curve for the yellow ink part, 1c is the reflectance curve for the magenta ink part, and 1d is the reflectance curve for the cyan ink part. As is clear from Figure 3, yellow ink 1b, magenta ink 1c, and cyan ink 1d.
Overall, there is almost no difference in reflectance compared to black ink 1a, and due to this difference, devices that detect ink color have the disadvantage that the light-receiving circuit becomes complex and false detection is likely. be.

On the other hand, the ink areas of the above four colors are considered as one block, and the positioning of this block is, for example,
A detector with a wavelength near 900 nm detects black ink 1a.
There is a method in which the positioning of each color is performed indirectly by matching the ribbon feeding mechanism of the printing device with the length or coloring order of the ink section of the color ink ribbon 1. Although this method allows stable detection of ink colors, it has the disadvantage that the color arrangement order of the inks, the length of the ink portions, the number of ink colors, etc. are unique to the printing apparatus.

In addition to the above, there is also what is generally called a color sensor. This uses natural light as the light source, and the light-receiving circuit has wavelength sensitivity corresponding to each color, and performs color detection. However, this is likely to react to external light other than the light source, resulting in false detection, and the light-receiving circuit is sensitive to wavelength sensitivity corresponding to each color. It has drawbacks such as requiring two power supplies and being expensive.

The present invention was devised to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional ink ribbon, and an object of the present invention is to provide a color ink ribbon that enables stable ink detection and ribbon end detection using an inexpensive detection circuit.

The configuration of the present invention will be explained.

The present invention provides marks for detecting the position of each ink color in a thermal transfer color ink ribbon made up of parts coated with ink of at least two colors among black, yellow, magenta (red), and cyan (indigo). For the black ink part, a black ink part detection mark consisting of a mark coated with transparent or ink other than black, and for the color ink part other than black, a colored ink consisting of a mark coated with a unique black ink corresponding to each ink color. A part detection mark is provided at the end of each ink part.

Additionally, a color ink ribbon end detection mark coated with black ink was provided at the end of the ink ribbon as a position detection mark, making it possible to detect the end of the ribbon.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. Fourth
The figure shows an ink ribbon color scheme showing an embodiment of the present invention, where 1a is a black ink part, 1b is a yellow ink part, and 1c is a color scheme of an ink ribbon.
is magenta ink part, 1d is cyan ink part, 1
e is an ink part other than black ink or a transparent part,
1f is a black ink mark corresponding to the yellow ink area, 1
g is a black ink mark corresponding to the magenta ink portion, and 1h is a black ink mark corresponding to the cyan ink portion. In the figure, L ₁ to _{L 5} are the lengths of the corresponding ink portions. The detector 6 is controlled by two values: the reflectance or transmittance of black ink and that of inks other than black ink, and detects the length of the black ink mark and identifies the following ink color accordingly. be. In addition to the above, marks corresponding to each ink color include, for example, two intermittent black ink marks corresponding to the yellow ink portion 1b, three intermittent black ink marks corresponding to the magenta ink portion 1c, and cyan ink marks. The black ink mark corresponding to the portion 1d may be four intermittent marks, and the mark may be of any type.

FIG. 5 is a ribbon end color scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention. Color ink ribbon 1 as shown in Fig. 5
By forming a mark other than the mark corresponding to the ink color at the end of the ribbon using black ink and using this as the ribbon end detection mark 1i, it is possible to detect the ink color and the end of the ribbon using the 61 detectors described above. Become.

Here, the ribbon end mark 1i may be in any format, similar to the mark corresponding to the above-mentioned ink color.

The effects of the present invention will be explained.

In conventional printing apparatuses, the number of ink colors of the color ink ribbon, the order of color arrangement, and the length of each ink section are determined and limited by its hardware and software. On the other hand, according to the present invention, since there is a detection mark corresponding to each ink color, for example, black ink 1a and yellow ink 1b
It becomes possible to use color ink ribbons made up of two colors or ink ribbons made up of three colors in the same printing device.

Furthermore, in terms of the size of the color ink ribbon, which is limited by the printing device, that is, the ribbon length, the length of the frequently used ink color part should be made longer, and the length of the less frequently used ink color part should be made shorter. This makes it possible to effectively improve the life of the color ink ribbon. Further, the detector 6 can detect ink color at a binary level, and its detection circuit is inexpensive and provides stable ink color detection and ribbon end detection.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer printing device;
The figure shows a conventional thermal transfer type color ink ribbon, Figure 3 shows the spectral reflectance characteristics of each ink in the color ink ribbon, and Figures 4 and 5 show the color scheme of the color ink ribbon according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram. 1 is a color ink ribbon, 2 is a thermal head, 3 is a recording paper, 4 is a take-up reel, 5 is a feed reel, 6 is a detector, 1a is a black ink section, 1
b is yellow ink part, 1c is magenta ink part, 1d
1e is a cyan ink part, 1e is an ink part other than black ink or a transparent part, 1f is a black ink part corresponding to a yellow ink part, 1g is a black ink part corresponding to a magenta ink part, 1h is a black part corresponding to a cyan ink part In the ink portion, 1i is a ribbon end mark, and the same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A thermal transfer color ink ribbon consisting of a portion coated with ink of at least two colors among black, yellow, magenta (red), and cyan (indigo); As a mark for detecting the position, a black ink detection mark consisting of a mark coated with transparent or ink other than black is used for the black ink part, and a black ink detection mark consisting of a mark coated with a transparent or non-black ink is used for the ink part of a color other than black. The color ink detection mark consisting of the applied mark is
A thermal transfer color ink ribbon characterized by being provided at the end of each ink section. (2) The thermal transfer type color ink ribbon according to claim 1, which is characterized by having a color ink ribbon end detection mark consisting of a portion coated with black ink at the end of the ink ribbon.