JPH04334484A - Ink sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide ink sheet whose remaining quantity can be easily recognized without depending on a sensor. CONSTITUTION:A mark 27 expressing each page number is displayed on the side edge of an ink sheet 18 so as to know remaining quantity of the ink sheet 18 by only looking at the mark 27 without using a sensor and a magnetic head. Although the ink sheet 18 will be hidden at some parts thereof being led along a paper convey passage of a printer, missing of the mark 27 is prevented by arranging the mark 27, which expresses each page number of the ink sheet 18, along the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet 18 repeatedly for a plurality of times at every page.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink sheet used in a printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, a first method for detecting the remaining amount of a long ink sheet 50 on which ink of different colors is applied over a certain length is to The color mark 51 formed on the side of the ink sheet 50 is detected by a sensor to recognize the color of the ink used, and the mark 52 formed on the other side of the ink sheet 50 is detected by another sensor every printing cycle for one page. There is a method of detecting the remaining amount of the ink sheet 50 by detecting it and counting the detection signal with a counter provided in the printer.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a barcode 54 indicating ink color, remaining amount data, etc. is formed at the beginning of each color of an ink ribbon 53 for multicolor printing.
There is a method of detecting 4 with a sensor and counting the detection signal.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, a magnetic stripe 55 is formed along one side edge of the ink sheet 50 for multicolor printing.
There is a method of detecting the remaining amount of the ink sheet 50 and the color of the ink used by forming a magnetic stripe 55 and reading the information stored in the magnetic stripe 55 with a magnetic head.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The method shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 uses a dedicated sensor to detect the remaining amount of the ink sheet 50 or ink ribbon 53, and counts and stores detection signals from this sensor. In addition, a backup battery is required to store the detected remaining amount even when the power is turned off, making the structure complicated. moreover,
Since the circuit for counting and storing the detection signal is provided on the printer side, even if another ink sheet cartridge or ink ribbon cartridge is installed, the printer side simply adds up the remaining amount detection signal. Therefore, unless the ink sheet cartridge or ink ribbon cartridge is used in the printer until it is used up, the remaining amount cannot be detected reliably. However, if you consider that multiple people will be using the printer together,
It cannot be guaranteed that this type of usage will be maintained, and it is not practical as a method for detecting the remaining amount. This also applies to the method shown in FIG. 7, which is more expensive because it uses a magnetic head.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The invention according to claim 1 provides an ink sheet whose both ends are wound around a supply shaft and a take-up shaft, and ink is applied to one side of the film. Symbols representing each page number were repeated a plurality of times for each page and were arranged and displayed along the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect, a base coating is applied to the side edges of the film, and a symbol of a color opposite to that of the base coating is displayed on the base coating.

[0008] According to the third aspect of the invention, a long display ribbon in which symbols representing the number of pages of the ink sheet are repeated a plurality of times per page and arranged along the longitudinal direction is provided on the ink sheet. It was wound around the ends of the supply shaft and the take-up shaft along one side edge of the winding shaft.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the invention of claim 1, it is possible to know the remaining amount of the ink sheet by simply looking at the symbol without using a sensor or a magnetic head, and the ink sheet is placed along the paper conveyance path of the printer. Although some parts are hidden, the symbols representing the number of pages on the ink sheet are repeated multiple times on each page and are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet, making it possible to prevent the symbols from being overlooked.

[0010] According to the second aspect of the invention, since a symbol of a color opposite to that of the base coating is displayed on the base coating, it is possible to make the display easy to see.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is difficult to control the color tone of the transfer surface and the thickness of the ink film of the ink sheet, and it is desired to improve the yield. It becomes possible to take advantage of

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the invention according to claims 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall view of the printer. In the figure, 1 is a top cover, a transparent access cover 2 is provided in front of this top cover 1, and paper is inserted into the back of this access cover 2. An opening 3 is formed for the access cover 3, and a paper discharge port 4 is formed below the access cover 3. Further, a mounting port 5 for mounting an ink cartridge (to be described later) is formed on the side surface of the top cover 1, and a side cover 6 for opening and closing the mounting port 5 is rotatably attached.

FIG. 2 is a vertical side view showing the inside of the printer. Inside the top cover 1, there are a platen 7 as a printing stand, a feed roller 8, a pinch roller 9 pressed against the feed roller 8, and A motor 10 capable of forward and reverse rotation that drives the platen 7 and the feed roller 8, a reflective paper detector 11 located near the pinch roller 9, and a thermal head that is a print head facing the platen 7. 12, a power supply section 13, and a paper guide plate 15 for guiding the paper 14. A detector 16 is fixed to the thermal head 12. The ink sheet cartridge 17 installed through the installation port 5 is attached to a supply shaft 1 that holds a long ink sheet 18 in a wound state.
9, a take-up shaft 20 for winding up the ink sheet 18, and a cartridge case 21 that rotatably holds the supply shaft 19 and the take-up shaft 20. The winding shaft 20 is connected to a drive shaft (not shown). Further, a window 22 is formed in the cartridge case 21 so as to face the outer periphery of the end of the winding shaft 20.

The cartridge case 21 is formed by joining two divided cases 23 and 24, as shown in FIG. The ink sheet 18 is formed with a plurality of color-coded transfer surfaces 25 of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, and color-coded marks 26 corresponding to these transfer surfaces 25, arranged alternately. A transparent film is used as the base of the ink sheet 18, and on the base coating applied to the side edges outside the non-printing area, ink of a color opposite to that of the base coating is applied. Symbols 27 representing each page number are repeatedly arranged and displayed a plurality of times on each page. These symbols 27
are also displayed to distinguish the colors of each transfer surface 25. That is, in the symbol displayed as 50Y, 50 represents the 50th page, and Y represents yellow. Similarly, in the symbol displayed as 50M, 50 represents the 50th page and M represents magenta. Further, the distance L between the symbol 27 at the beginning of each page and the top of the transfer surface 25 represented by the symbol 27 is:
In FIG. 2, this corresponds to the distance from the thermal head 12 to the window 22.

The thermal head 12 is driven in the vertical direction by a position switching mechanism (not shown), and has a printing position shown by a solid line, a retracted position slightly floating from the platen 7 from this printing position, and a retracted position shown by an imaginary line. As shown, it is fixed in three positions, including the retracted position where it is retracted further upwards.

In such a configuration, in FIG.
Printing is performed while the paper 14 inserted into the opening 3 from the top surface of the access cover 2 is conveyed rearward by the feed roller 8 and the platen 7. For color printing, the thermal head 12 is retracted to a retracted position slightly away from the platen 7 by the position switching mechanism to release the ink sheet 18 from the paper 14, and in this state, the platen 7 and feed roller 8 are reversed. The paper 14 is returned to the front, the thermal head 12 is advanced to the printing position again, and the operation of transferring the ink on the transfer surface 25 of the other color to the paper 14 by the thermal head 12 is repeated. As a result, color printing is performed, and the printed paper 14 is discharged from the paper discharge port 4.

In addition, the remaining amount of the ink sheet 18 can be determined simply by looking at the symbol 27 without using a sensor or a magnetic head, and the part of the ink sheet 18 that is hidden when it is placed along the paper conveyance path of the printer can be checked. However, the symbol 27 representing each page number of the ink sheet 18 is repeated multiple times on each page and arranged along the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet, and the symbol 27 at the beginning of each page and the symbol 27 The distance L from the head of the transfer surface 25 expressed by corresponds to the distance from the thermal head 12 to the window 22. Therefore, by looking at the symbol 27 facing the window 22, it can be determined that The page number and color of the transfer surface 25 can be known. Furthermore, although a transparent film is used as the base of the ink sheet 18, a symbol 27 of a color opposite to that of the base coating is displayed on the base coating applied to the film. It becomes possible to make it easier to see.

Next, an embodiment of the invention of claim 3 is shown in FIG.
The explanation will be based on. A long display ribbon 28 in which symbols 27 representing each page number and color of the ink sheet 18 are repeated multiple times for each page and are arranged and displayed along the longitudinal direction.
is provided. The display ribbon 28 is wound around the ends of the supply shaft 19 and the take-up shaft 20 along one side edge of the ink sheet 18.

In such a configuration, by driving the take-up shaft 20, the ink sheet 18 and the display ribbon 28 are
are wound around the winding shaft 20 at the same speed. Ink sheet 18
When manufacturing the ink sheet, it is difficult to control the color tone of the transfer surface 25 and the thickness of the ink film, and there is a demand for improved yield.However, since the display ribbon 28 is formed separately from the ink sheet 18, the ink sheet Even if the display ribbon 18 becomes defective, the display ribbon 28 can be utilized.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the invention, in an ink sheet whose both ends are wound around a supply shaft and a take-up shaft and ink is applied to one side of the film, each page number is marked on the side edge of the ink sheet. Since the symbols are repeated multiple times on each page and arranged and displayed along the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet, it is possible to know the remaining amount of the ink sheet just by looking at the symbols without using a sensor or magnetic head. In addition, although there are parts of the ink sheet that are hidden when the ink sheet is placed along the printer's paper transport path, the symbols representing the number of pages on the ink sheet are repeated multiple times on each page and are hidden along the length of the ink sheet. Since the symbols are arranged, it is possible to prevent the symbols from being overlooked.

[0021] In the invention of claim 2, in claim 1, a base coating is applied to the side edges of the film, and a symbol of a color opposite to that of the base coating is displayed on the base coating, so that the display is easy to see. It has the effect that it can.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a long display ribbon in which symbols representing the number of pages of the ink sheet are repeated a plurality of times per page and arranged along the longitudinal direction is provided on the ink sheet. Since the ink sheet is wound around the ends of the supply shaft and take-up shaft along one side edge, it is difficult to control the color of the transfer surface and the thickness of the ink film, so there is a desire to improve the yield. However, it has the effect of allowing the display ribbon to be used even if the ink sheet becomes defective.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention according to claims 1 and 2, and is an exploded perspective view of an ink sheet cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the thermal printer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the thermal printer.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the invention according to claim 3, and is a perspective view of an ink sheet and a display ribbon.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional ink sheet.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a conventional ink ribbon.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conventional ink sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

18 Ink sheet 19 Supply shaft 20 Take-up shaft 27 Symbol 28 Display ribbon

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink sheet whose both ends are wound around a supply shaft and a take-up shaft, and ink is applied to one side of the film, and a symbol representing each page number is marked on the side edge of the ink sheet.
An ink sheet characterized in that the ink sheet is repeatedly displayed a plurality of times for each page, arranged and displayed along the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet. 2. The ink sheet according to claim 1, wherein a base coat is applied to the side edges of the film, and a symbol of a color opposite to the base coat is displayed on the base coat. [Claim 3] The symbol representing each page number of the ink sheet is 1.
A long display ribbon, which is displayed repeatedly and arranged along the longitudinal direction multiple times for each page, is wound around the ends of the supply shaft and the take-up shaft along one side edge of the ink sheet. An ink sheet featuring the following.