JPH04319479A - Method and device for recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a device and method for recording wherein an ink ribbon can be used efficiently by dividing a record head into a plurality of blocks and using the ink ribbon by rewinding when recording data corresponding to a certain block does not exist. CONSTITUTION:An ink ribbon 105 has a recording width at least of the whole heat generating resistors of a thermal head 104. When a recording is to be performed by dividing these heat generating resistors into a plurality of blocks, it is decided whether or not there is data to be recorded in parts of recording data corresponding to those blocks. At a next recording when the recording data corresponding to the blocks do not exist, the ink ribbon 105 is rewound by a ribbon rewinding motor 110 and a part of the ink ribbon corresponding to a block not including the data to be recorded is used so as to record the next recording data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device used in, for example, a personal computer, a word processor, or a facsimile machine, and particularly to a recording device using a transfer recording medium for recording monochrome images.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art As a recording method for personal computers, word processors, etc., thermal transfer printers that perform recording using a thermal transfer recording method are often used because of their low cost and ease of handling. Such thermal transfer printers heat an ink ribbon coated with heat-melting (or heat-sublimating) ink using a recording head (thermal head) that generates heat in response to an image signal, and record the melted (or sublimated) ink. It is recorded by transferring it to paper. In such thermal transfer printers, in order to reduce the time required to record one page, the recording width that can be recorded with one scan of the recording head is expanded, and many lines can be recorded in one scan. being developed. The thermal head used in such a thermal transfer printer has, for example, 128 or 144 heating dots arranged in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, and 128 to 144 lines are printed by one scan of the recording head. Configured to record.

0003

As described above, in order to record a large number of lines in one scan, the ink ribbon used must be a wide ribbon. When printing with such a wide ink ribbon, multiple lines of print data are simultaneously printed as described above, so even if there are lines that are printed and lines that are not printed in one scan, , the ribbon is consumed in the same way. For example, in the case where 144 lines are printed simultaneously in one scan as described above, even if there is data to be printed on even one line, the ink ribbon corresponding to the other 143 lines will be consumed in the same way, resulting in wasted ink. There is a problem that the area of the ribbon increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and the print head is divided into a plurality of blocks, and when there is no print data corresponding to a certain block, the ink ribbon is rewound and used. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording method and apparatus that can efficiently use an ink ribbon.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, it is a recording apparatus that conveys a transfer recording medium and performs recording by applying energy corresponding to an image signal to the transfer recording medium by a recording head, and the transfer recording medium is heated by at least all heating resistors of the recording head. A recording means having a recording width and recording by dividing the heating resistor into a plurality of blocks, and when there is no data to be recorded in the recording data portion corresponding to the block, the thermal transfer recording is performed at the next recording time. and control means for controlling the recording medium to be rewound and recorded using the portion of the transfer recording medium corresponding to the block in which the data to be recorded is not included.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the recording method of the present invention includes the following steps. That is, it is a recording method in which a transfer recording medium is conveyed and a recording head applies energy corresponding to an image signal to the transfer recording medium to perform recording, the recording method having at least a recording width of all heating resistors of the recording head. A step of determining whether or not there is no data to be recorded in the recording data portions corresponding to the blocks when the heating resistor is divided into a plurality of blocks and recording is performed using a recording medium; and recording data corresponding to the blocks. The process of rewinding the thermal transfer recording medium and recording the next recording data using the portion of the transfer recording medium corresponding to the block that did not contain the data to be recorded. and has.

[0007]

[Operation] In the above structure, a transfer recording medium having a recording width of at least the entire heating resistor of the recording head is provided, and when recording is performed by dividing the heating resistor into a plurality of blocks, the recording corresponding to the blocks is provided. It is determined whether there is any data to be recorded in the data area, and when there is no recording data corresponding to the block, the thermal transfer recording medium is rewound during the next recording and the data to be recorded is no longer included. The transfer recording medium portion corresponding to the block is used to record the next recording data.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a thermal transfer recording apparatus equipped with a thermal head, which is an embodiment of the present invention. This recording device is applied to printer sections of various devices such as word processors, electronic typewriters, and facsimile machines.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a control section that controls the entire printer. This control unit 100 includes, for example, an MPU 100A such as a microprocessor;
ROM10 that stores control programs and various data, etc.
0B, used as the work area of MPU100A,
It is composed of a RAM 100C etc. that temporarily stores various data. Reference numeral 102 denotes an input unit that controls communication with an external device such as a host computer, and inputs recording data sent from the host computer to the controller 100.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a carriage provided in the mechanical section of the printer, and a ribbon cassette 26 (FIG. 2) for supplying an ink ribbon 105 to the front surface of the thermal head 104 is removably set on the carriage 103. has been done. 101 is this ink ribbon cassette 26
This is an ink ribbon cassette determination unit that determines whether or not the ink ribbon cassette is attached to the carriage 103. A carriage motor 107 is a drive source for scanning the carriage 103, and a paper feed motor 109 is for conveying a recording sheet, which is a recording medium, in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 103. 110 is ink ribbon 1
A rewind motor for rewinding the ink ribbon 105 can rewind the ink ribbon 105 wound around the ribbon winding shaft 28 to the supply shaft 27 side. Reference numerals 106, 108, and 111 are motor drive units provided corresponding to each motor to rotate these motors.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the recording section of the thermal transfer printer of this embodiment. Portions common to those in FIG.

In FIG. 2, 20 is a platen roller;
Winding the recording sheet 21, the paper feed motor 1 described above
09, the recording sheet 21 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow. The carriage 103 fixes a belt 25 that is wound and stretched around the drive pulley 23 and the driven pulley 24, and the rotation of the carriage motor 107 causes the belt 25 to move between the drive pulley 23 and the driven pulley 2.
4, the carriage 103 is reciprocated in the direction of arrow R depending on the direction of movement.

27 is the aforementioned ink ribbon cassette;
During recording, the ink ribbon 105 wound around the supply shaft 27 in the ribbon cassette 26 is moved to the thermal head 10 by a ribbon drive shaft (not shown) provided on the carriage 103.
The ribbon is moved in a predetermined direction in synchronization with the movement of 4, and is sequentially wound around the ribbon winding shaft 28. A microswitch 30 operates as a ribbon cassette discriminator 101, and when the ink ribbon cassette 26 is attached, it is pressed down by the case of the cassette and turned on. Thereby, the control unit 100 can detect whether the ribbon cassette 26 is attached.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recording surface of the thermal head 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, a thermal head 104 is constituted by dot forming means having a row of heating resistors 3 for image recording on the surface of a ceramic substrate 2. The heating resistor row 3 is composed of N heating resistors including heating elements 31 to 3N, and each resistor is connected to the common electrode 5. As a result, the power supply to each heating resistor is controlled by the common electrode 5.
This is performed by individual electrodes (not shown) connected to each heating resistor. Note that the heating resistor rows 3 are each formed on a glass glaze 6.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a shift register having a data capacity of at least N bits, into which serial image data recorded from the outside is input together with a synchronization clock. The output of this shift register 8 is input to the bases of corresponding NPN transistors 91 to 9N. During a recording operation, when the output of the shift register 8 becomes the recording timing and a predetermined voltage is applied to the common electrode 5, the N
The PN transistor is turned on, and current flows from the common electrode 5 to the transistor side of the corresponding heating resistor. As a result, the heating resistor 3 is energized and heated. The heat generated by the thermal head 104 heats the ink ribbon 105 and performs recording.

Note that when recording is performed using only some heating resistors of the thermal head 104, recording is performed with all output data to the heating resistor group not involved in recording set to "0".

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the recording procedure in the thermal transfer printer of this embodiment.
It is recorded in OM100B. In addition, here, the thermal head 104 is equipped with 128 dots of heat-generating low antibodies,
Normally, 64 lines are recorded simultaneously in one scan, and the ink ribbon 105 has a width that can record 128 dots, and the print data for two scans (128 lines) is recorded in one scan. It shall be possible to record at the same time.

First, in step S1, data transmitted from the host computer and inputted from the input section 102 is expanded into one scan buffer of the RAM 100C, and data to be recorded in the next scan is expanded. Next, the process advances to step S2, and the recording in the previous row is performed by the thermal head 10.
It is determined whether the upper half of 4, that is, 64 lines have been recorded. If so, proceed to step S5, and ink ribbon 1
The next 64 lines are recorded using the heating resistor rows in the lower half of 05 and the lower half of thermal head 104.

When the record data recorded in the previous scan is 128 lines (when recording by all the heating resistor arrays of the thermal head 104), the process advances to step S3, and 2 lines of the record data input from the host computer, which is an external device, are recorded. The data for the scan (128 lines) is analyzed and it is determined whether or not it is necessary to record data for two scans at the same time. For example, if the recording data string for the upper 64 lines is not "0" and the recording data string for the lower 64 lines is all "0", this determination will continue as is.
When the line is recorded, it is determined whether the lower half of the ribbon 105 is wound up and consumed even though it is not used.
It is determined that simultaneous recording of the scan portion is unnecessary, and the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S3, if the ink ribbon 105 is not wasted even if two scans are recorded at the same time, the process proceeds to step S9, and all of the heat-generating low antibody arrays 8 of the thermal head 104 are used and stored in the RAM 100C. Two scans worth of print data (128 lines) are simultaneously printed in one scan. Thereafter, a changeover operation for two scans is performed and the process returns to step S1.

On the other hand, in step S4, it is determined whether printing was performed using the upper half of the ink ribbon 105 in the previous scan, and if so, the process advances to step S5.
Sixty-four lines are simultaneously recorded using the lower half of the ink ribbon 105. Next, the process proceeds to step S6, where a changeover operation is performed to convey the recording sheet 21 for 128 lines (2 scans) in the direction of the arrow.

If it is determined in step S4 that no recording was performed using the upper half of the ink ribbon 105 last time, the process advances to step S7, and 64 lines are recorded using the upper half of the ink ribbon 105. Next, in step S8, the ribbon winding motor 110 is rotated to rewind the ink ribbon 105 by the ribbon length used in step S7, and then in step S5, the remaining ink ribbon 105 is
Record using the lower half of the

Note that in this embodiment, the thermal head 10
Although it has been explained that the heating resistor for 128 dots of 4 is divided into two blocks, upper and lower, and used separately for the upper half and lower half of the ink ribbon, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, Block fever hypoantibodies in four ways (e.g. 3
2 dots), and if there is a block in which there is no print data, the ink ribbon 105 is wound up for that block.
The next print data may be recorded using the ink ribbon portion corresponding to that block. In this case, the line feed length at the time of next recording is changed according to the position of that block. For example, the thermal head 10
If there is no record data corresponding to the top block of 4, a line break is made for 4 blocks (128 lines), or after 1 block if there is no record data corresponding to the bottom block. (32 lines) After the line feed, the ink ribbon is rewound and the next 32 lines of print data are recorded.

Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a system consisting of a plurality of devices, or to an apparatus consisting of one device. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to cases where the present invention is achieved by supplying a system or device with a program that executes the control defined by the present invention.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, when recording with a wide ribbon, the ink ribbon is used efficiently according to the recording data, thereby reducing the ink ribbon wasted and improving thermal transfer recording. This has the effect of reducing running costs in the process.

[0028]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the recording head is divided into a plurality of blocks, and when there is no recording data corresponding to a certain block, the ink ribbon is rewound and used. This has the effect of making it possible to use the ribbon more efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the main parts of the recording section of the thermal transfer printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a recording surface of a thermal head used in the thermal transfer printer of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of print processing in the thermal transfer printer of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 Recording sheet 26 Ribbon cassette 27 Supply shaft 28 Take-up shaft 100 Control section 100A MPU 100B ROM 100C RAM 101 Ink ribbon 102 Input section 103 Carriage 104 Thermal head 105 Ink ribbon 106, 108, 111 Motor drive section 107 Carriage motor 109 Paper feed motor 110 Rewind motor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus that conveys a transfer recording medium and records by applying energy corresponding to an image signal to the transfer recording medium by a recording head, wherein the transfer recording medium absorbs at least the total heat generated by the recording head. A recording means having a recording width by a resistor and recording by dividing the heating resistor into a plurality of blocks, and when there is no data to be recorded in the recording data portion corresponding to the block, at the next recording time, A recording apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the thermal transfer recording medium to be rewound and recorded using a portion of the transfer recording medium corresponding to a block in which the data to be recorded is not included. . 2. The recording apparatus is a serial type recording apparatus, wherein the recording head is mounted on a carriage and is conveyed to perform recording, and the transfer recording medium is wound up in accordance with the conveyance recording of the recording head. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A recording method in which a transfer recording medium is conveyed, and a recording head applies energy corresponding to an image signal to the transfer recording medium to perform recording, the recording method comprising at least a recording width of all heating resistors of the recording head. and a step of determining whether or not there is no data to be recorded in the recording data portions corresponding to the blocks when recording the heating resistor by dividing it into a plurality of blocks; During the next recording when there is no data to be recorded, the thermal transfer recording medium is rewound and the next recording data is recorded using the portion of the transfer recording medium that corresponds to the block that did not contain the data to be recorded. A recording method characterized by comprising the step of recording.