JPH0425155B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for controlling color switching of a color ribbon in a color printer, and in particular, the method is most frequently used for the home position, which is a reference for switching between multiple colors. The present invention relates to a color ribbon control method for arranging colors and returning the color ribbon to its home position at predetermined time intervals.

Recently, with the spread of information processing devices, various printers have been developed and put into practical use.However, there is a demand for printing in different colors depending on the print content, and color printers have come into use in response to this demand. Ta.

Color printers that use color ribbons to print according to the required colors respond to this demand by switching between color ribbons that are divided into multiple colors, but this may result in printing in the wrong color or poor printing efficiency. It is necessary that it does not decrease.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing an example of a color printer.

The processor 1 reads a program stored in the ROM 3 and operates. Print data is sent from the host device via the interface control circuit 7. Processor 1 stores this print data once in RAM.
Store in 2.

When the processor 1 extracts the print code from the print data read from the RAM 2, the character generation circuit 4
The corresponding character patterns are read out from the memory and sequentially stored in the line buffer area of RAM2. Then, it is determined that one line of print data for which a line feed code is detected from the print data has been received, the character pattern is read from the line buffer, and the print head control circuit 5 reads out the character pattern from the line buffer.
The printing head 6 is then driven to start printing.

At this time, the processor 1 detects the color designation of the printed characters from the print data, controls the ribbon switching circuit 10, drives the ribbon switching motor 11, switches the color position of the color ribbon, and moves the designated color in front of the print head 6. Position.

At the same time, the processor 1 controls the space control circuit 8 to drive the space motor 9 to position the print head 6 at a position where characters of the designated color are printed.
Start printing as described above. When one line is printed, the line feed control circuit 12 is controlled and the line feed motor 1 is activated.
3 to feed the paper.

When printing in a desired color by switching between color ribbons classified into a plurality of colors in this way, the processor 1 usually does not have means for detecting the color position of the ribbon for each color, but it installs a sensor at the home position.
The ribbon positions of other colors can be determined using this sensor output as a reference, or the home position can be detected using a mechanical position detection mechanism such as a cam riding system, and the ribbon positions of other colors can be determined using this as a reference. There are many. The position moved from the home position is memorized and is used as a reference for selecting the next color ribbon position.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

After a long period of time, the color position of the color ribbon may shift due to shocks being applied to the color printer or movement of the ribbon by an operator.

Also, the usual printing color is overwhelmingly black, and other colors are rarely used. Therefore, from the viewpoint of efficiency, it is desirable that the color ribbon is always set at the black position when printing starts.

Conventionally, the color ribbon remains stopped at the designated color position at the end of printing, so if the color position shifts as described above, the color position differs from the stored color position, so printing is performed in the wrong color. Furthermore, when printing starts, the color ribbon must be set to black before printing starts, which poses a problem of lowering processing efficiency.

[Means for solving problems]

The above problem is solved by a printer that prints using a color ribbon, which requires a means for sending an interrupt signal when no print data is received for a certain period of time, and a means for sending the interrupt signal to move the color ribbon to the home position, which is the reference for color switching. a means for returning the color ribbon to the home position when no print data is received for a certain period of time;
This problem is solved by the color ribbon control method according to the present invention, in which the color of the color ribbon at the home position is set to the most frequently used color (for example, black).

[Effect]

That is, the timer is set every time print data sent from the host device is received, and when a certain period of time has elapsed since no print data has been received, the timer sends an interrupt signal to the processor. This is to return to the home position.

The color at the home position is black, which is the most frequently used color.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram in which a timer 14 is added to FIG. 2. The timer 14 is set every time print data is input to the interface control circuit 7. Then, when the reception of print data stops and the set signal is not received for a certain period of time, an interrupt signal is sent to the processor 1.

Upon receiving this interrupt signal, the processor 1 controls the ribbon switching control circuit 10 to drive the ribbon switching motor 11 to return the color ribbon to its home position.

It goes without saying that when the processor resumes printing after receiving an interrupt signal, consideration must be given to generating an alarm if the color ribbon is not set at the home position.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, when printing is resumed after stopping printing for a certain period of time, the color ribbon returns to the home position, so there is no mistake in printing color, and the most frequently used printing method Since printing can be started from a color, processing efficiency can also be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit showing an example of a color printer. In the figure, 1 is the processor, 2 is the RAM, and 3 is the processor.
is a ROM, 4 is a character generation circuit, 5 is a print head control circuit, 6 is a print head, 7 is an interface control circuit, 8 is a space control circuit, 9 is a space motor, 10 is a ribbon switching control circuit, 11 is a ribbon switching 12 is a line feed control circuit, 13 is a line feed motor, and 14 is a timer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a printer that prints using a color ribbon, means for sending an interrupt signal when no print data is received for a certain period of time; A color ribbon control method comprising means for returning the color ribbon to its home position, and returning the color ribbon to its home position when no print data is received for a certain period of time. 2. The color ribbon control system according to claim 1, wherein the color of the color ribbon at the home position is the most frequently used color.