JPH0429877A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a transfer medium effectively and eliminate the wasteful use of the transfer medium by a method wherein when an unused part exists in the wound transfer medium, the transfer medium is accordingly rewound at the time of recording, and the unused part is used for recording. CONSTITUTION:At the time of recording, a recording sheet 5 is set, a carriage 1 is moved, a recording head 2 is moved downward, and the recording head 2 is heated in accordance with recording information while an ink ribbon 4 is taken up by a feed means. In this manner, an ink melted by the heat is transferred to the recording sheet 5. In a recorder P, at the time of recording, an unused part of the ink ribbon 4 is stored, and the unused part is rewound, as required, to be used for recording under drive control.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a recording device that can efficiently use a transfer medium.

<Prior Art> A thermal transfer recording method is often used as a recording method for personal computers, word processors, etc. due to its low cost and ease of handling. In this method, an ink ribbon coated with hot-melt ink, which serves as a transfer medium, is heated by a recording head that generates heat depending on the recorded information, and the molten ink is transferred to a recording sheet.In recent years, thermal transfer for color recording has been used. Recording devices have also been developed.

In the case of the color recording, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-9819
As shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 0, different colored inks are sequentially applied to each predetermined section in the longitudinal direction of an ink ribbon, and the inks are selectively melted and transferred according to each color signal.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, since the recording device has a configuration in which the ink ribbon is wound only in one direction, colored ink is repeatedly applied in the order of, for example, ■yellow, ■magenta, and ■cyan. When performing color recording using a printed ink ribbon, even if the yellow recording length is shorter than the yellow coating length of the printing ribbon (for example, - character printing), when yellow recording is completed, the yellow ink coated area must be wound up. Put it away. That is, even though there is a considerable amount of unused yellow ink, that portion is taken up on the take-up reel as used.

Furthermore, if cyan recording is to be performed after yellow recording, after yellow recording has been performed as described above, the magenta color portion of the ink ribbon is idly fed to bring the cyan color to the beginning and cyan recording is performed. In this case, the magenta colored portion of the ribbon is taken up on the take-up reel as used, even though it is completely unused.

Therefore, in the case of color recording, the ink ribbon has to be replaced even though there is a considerable amount of unused portion of the ink ribbon remaining.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to use the transfer medium so as to leave as little unused portion as possible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device that can efficiently use a transfer medium.

Means for Solving the Problems> Typical means according to the present invention for solving the above problems include a recording means for applying recording energy to a transfer medium according to recorded information, and a recording means for applying recording energy to a transfer medium according to recording information. A transfer medium feeding means for winding and rewinding according to the operation, storing an unused portion of the transfer medium to be wound, and rewinding the unused portion of the transfer medium at the time of recording according to the stored information. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a control means for controlling the drive so as to perform a recording operation.

<Operation> In the above means, when the transfer medium is sent out and energy corresponding to the recording information is applied by the recording means, the transfer medium is transferred onto the recording sheet in accordance with the application of energy, and recording is performed. At this time, the portion of the transfer medium wound up in an unused state is memorized. The unused portion of the transfer medium is effectively used by rewinding the unused portion according to the recording operation and performing recording by applying energy to the unused portion.

<Embodiment> Next, an embodiment of the present invention in which the above means is applied to a thermal transfer recording apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a recording device, and FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of a word processor using the recording device.

(Overall Description) First, the overall configuration of the device will be explained. As shown in FIG. 2, this device has a keyboard for inputting information, a display section consisting of a CRT for displaying the input information, and and a recording device P for recording the input information on a recording sheet.

In this device, when characters are input by typing on the keyboard K, the input information is displayed on the display section. In order to output this information, a recording sheet 5 is set on the recording device P, and when a recording start key is pressed, the recording device P is driven and the information is recorded on the recording sheet 5.

The recording apparatus P is a serial type recording apparatus capable of color recording, and a recording head 2 is mounted on a carriage 1 so as to be swingable in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 1 by means of a solenoid (not shown). A ribbon cassette 3 is removably loaded, and a color ink ribbon 4 serving as a transfer medium is housed in the cassette 3.

When recording, set the recording sheet 5 and move it to the carriage 1.
and lower the recording head 2,
Further, when the recording head 2 is made to generate heat according to recording information while the ink ribbon 4 is wound up by the feeding means, the ink melted by the heat is transferred onto the recording sheet 5.

Furthermore, this recording apparatus P is configured to memorize the unused portion of the ink ribbon 4 during the recording, and to control the drive so that the unused portion is rewound and recorded as necessary.

Next, the configuration of each of the above sections will be specifically explained.

(Carriage) The carriage 1 is slidably attached to a guide shaft 7 whose both ends are fixed to the recording frame 6. A driving pulley and a driven pulley (not shown) connected to the carriage motor 8 are attached to the frame 6,
A timing heald 9 stretched between the pulleys is connected to the carriage 1. As a result, when the carriage motor 8 rotates forward and backward, the carriage 1 reciprocates along the guide shaft 7.

Further, a positioning projection 1a is provided around the upper surface of the carriage 1.
is formed so that when the ribbon cassette 3 is loaded onto the carriage 1, the cassette 3 can be positioned and fixed.

(Recording head) The recording head 2 applies thermal energy to the ink ribbon 4 according to recording information, and is made up of dot-shaped heating elements 2b arranged in a row on the surface of a head substrate 2a, which generate heat when energized. . This recording head 2 is mounted on the front part of the carriage 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and is configured to be amplified down in the direction of arrow a. When the head is down, the ink ribbon 4 is pressed against the recording sheet 5 whose back surface is supported by the platen 10, and when the head is up, the pressure is released.

Incidentally, a solenoid or the like is used to raise and lower the recording head 2.

(Ribbon Cassette) The ribbon cassette 3 has a supply reel 3b and a take-up reel 3c rotatably attached in a case 3a, and an ink ribbon 4 is wound around the supply reel 3b. The ink ribbon 4 is guided by a guide roller 3e from a supplying wheel 3b, exposed once in a head recess 3d, and wound around a take-up rule 3c.

Note that when the ribbon cassette 3 is loaded into the carriage 1, the recording head 2 is positioned in the head recess 3d.

(Ink ribbon) The ink ribbon 4 has thermal transferability (
It is coated with ink (heat-melting, heat-sublimating, etc.),
It is made by applying ink of multiple colors to enable color recording. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, A-color ink, B-color ink, and C-color ink, each having a different color, are applied repeatedly in the above order for each predetermined length.

Thereby, color ink portions corresponding to the color recording information are sent out so as to face the recording head 2, thereby making it possible to perform color recording.

(Ribbon Feeding Means) As shown in FIG. 1, a take-up shaft 11 and a rewind shaft 12 are mounted on the carriage 1 so as to protrude, and the respective shafts 11 and 12 are driven by a motor (not shown) as shown in FIG. It is configured to be driven and rotated in the directions of arrows S and C. Incidentally, the shafts 11 and 12 are in a state of free rotation when they are not driven to rotate.

Further, when the ribbon cassette 3 is loaded into the carriage l, the take-up reel 3c engages with the take-up shaft 11, and the supply reel 3
b is configured to engage with the rewinding shaft 12.

Therefore, when the take-up shaft 11 is driven to rotate, the ink ribbon 4 is pulled out from the supply reel 3b and taken up.
3c. On the other hand, when the rewind shaft 12 is driven to rotate, the ink ribbon 4 is moved to the take-up rule 3 in the opposite manner to the above.
c is pulled out and rewound onto the supply reel 3b.

(Sheet Conveyance Means) Next, the configuration of the sheet conveyance means that conveys the recording sheet 5 will be explained.As shown in FIG.
and a pinch roller 13b which is in pressure contact with the pinch roller 13b and rotates as a result of rotation.The conveyance roller 13a is connected to a conveyance motor 13d via a reduction gear train 13c.

Further, a paper pan 13e is attached along the circumferential surface of the conveyance roller 13a. Therefore, when the conveyance motor 13d is driven, the conveyance roller 13a rotates, and the recording sheet 5 is guided by the paper pan 13e by the conveyance roller 13a in cooperation with the pinch roller 13b.
The recording medium is conveyed in the direction of arrow d in FIG. 1 along the circumferential surface of the recording head and between the platen 10 and the recording head 2.

(Control Means) Next, a control means for driving and controlling each member of the recording apparatus P will be explained.

FIG. 4 shows a block of the control system. Reference numeral 14 is an input section consisting of a keyboard, etc., for inputting print information including color attributes, and input information from this input section 14 is transmitted to a control section 15. The control section 15 controls the remaining seedling buffer 16, the main memory 17, the image memory 18, and further the output section 19.

The seedling remaining amount buffer 16 stores the coordinates of the ink ribbon 4, and stores how much the ink ribbon 4 has been wound or unwound during recording, and also stores the amount of unwinded ribbon 4. It stores the position and extent of the used ink portion.

The main memory 17 stores, for example, a program shown in FIG. 5 for the control section 15 to perform control operations.

The image memory 18 stores a recorded image in units of pixels during recording.

Further, the output section 19 drives the carriage motor 8 and the transport motor 13d mentioned above during recording to move the carriage 1 and transport the recording sheet 5, and also drives the motor connected to the winding shaft 11 and the rewinding shaft 12. This is for winding and rewinding the ink ribbon 4, and further for driving the recording head 2 to perform a recording operation.

The basic recording operation procedure by this control system is such that the control section 15 inputs the recording information input from the input section 14 and saves it in the main memory 17 as necessary. Then, the control unit 15 transfers information input from the input unit 14 or recorded information saved in the main memory 17 to the image memory 1.
8 into pixel-by-pixel information, the recording information is transferred from the image memory 18 to the output unit 19, and is controlled to be recorded on the recording sheet 5.

During the recording, the ink ribbon 4 is appropriately rewound to control the unused portion of the ink ribbon 4 to be used effectively. The control procedure will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, color recording information is input, and the control section 15 stores the image memory 1.
After developing the pixel information in 8, the remaining amount of seedling buffer 16 is checked in step S1, and if there is an unused portion of the desired color on the ink ribbon 4 wound up on the winding loop 3c, it is checked in step S1. Proceeding to step S2, the ribbon coordinates of the unused portion are read from the seedling remaining amount buffer 16, and the output unit 19 reads the ribbon coordinates of the unused portion.
A command to rewind the ink ribbon 4 to the navel coordinate position is output, and the ink ribbon 4 is reeled back until the unused portion faces the recording head 2. Then, the read seedling remaining amount data is cleared from the seedling remaining amount buffer 16.

On the other hand, if there is no unused portion of the desired color remaining on the ink ribbon 4 wound up on the winding wheel 3C in step S1, the process moves to step S3, and the ink of the desired color is recorded on the output section 19. The ink ribbon 4 is wound onto the take-up reel 3c until it faces the head 2.

When the desired color ink faces the recording head 2 as described above, print recording is started in step S4. As described above, the recording operation is an operation in which the carriage 1 is moved with the recording head 2 in a head-down state, and the ink ribbon 4 is wound around the take-up wheel 3c while the recording head 2 is heated in accordance with the recording information.

During the recording operation, it is checked in step S5 whether the desired color of the ink ribbon 4 is at the recording position, and if the desired color is out of the recording position, step 36. Proceeding to S7, the ink ribbon 4 is wound onto the take-up reel 3c so that the desired color ink reaches the recording position. During this winding operation, the recording operation is temporarily interrupted. That is, the movement of the carriage 1 is stopped, the recording head 2 is raised, the take-up shaft 11 is driven and rotated, and when the desired color ink reaches the recording position, the interrupted recording is continued.

When recording with the desired color ink is completed as described above, in step S8, the unused portion of the ink ribbon 4 wound on the take-up reel 3C is stored as coordinate information.

By appropriately rewinding the ink ribbon 4 and performing recording as described above, unused portions can be used effectively and waste can be eliminated.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, a serial type recording apparatus is illustrated in which recording is performed by moving the carriage 1, but a so-called full-line recording apparatus using a recording head having approximately the same width and length as the recording sheet 5 is used. Of course, it is also possible to use a type recording device.

Further, in order to rewind the unused portion of the wound ink ribbon 4, a mark is placed at the beginning of the unused portion in the coordinate information of the remaining color amount buffer 16, and when a rewinding command is issued from the control section 15, The output section 19 is the ink ribbon 4
It may be configured to rewind and automatically stop rewinding when the mark is detected.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, in the present invention, if there is an unused portion of the wound transfer medium, the transfer medium is appropriately rewound during recording and the unused portion is used for recording. Furthermore, the transfer medium can be used effectively to eliminate waste, and running costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a serial type recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a word processor using the recording device, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an ink ribbon.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the recording procedure. K is a keyboard, D is a display section, P is a recording device, 1 is a carriage, 1a is a positioning projection, 2 is a recording head, 2a is a head substrate, 2b is a heating element, 3 is a ribbon cassette, 3
a is a case, 3b is a supply reel, 3C is a take-up reel, 3
d is a head recess, 3e is a guide roller, 4 is an ink ribbon, 5 is a recording sheet, 6 is a recording frame, 7 is a guide shaft, 8 is a carriage motor, 9 is a timing heald, 10 is a platen, 11 is a winding shaft, 12 is a rewinding shaft, 13
a is a conveyance roller, 13b is a pinch roller, 13c is a reduction gear train, 13d is a conveyance motor, 13e is a paper pan, 14 is an input section, 15 is a control section, 16 is a color remaining amount buffer, 17 is a main memory, 18 is a An image memory 19 is an output section.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) a recording device for applying recording energy to a transfer medium according to recording information; a transfer medium feeding device for winding and rewinding the transfer medium according to recording operations; and the transfer medium to be wound up. a control means for storing an unused portion of the transfer medium, and controlling the drive so that the unused portion of the transfer medium is rewound during recording according to the stored information to perform a recording operation. (2) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer medium is a medium coated with different colored inks sequentially in the feeding direction.