JPH0470158B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a color ink ribbon used in a printer capable of color printing. Note that the following description will be made in relation to a printer.

There are two main types of printing formats for printers: one is an impact type that uses an ink ribbon, etc., and the other is a non-impact type that uses an inkjet. Even for color printers that can print in multiple colors, , various methods have been proposed for each format.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the main parts of a conventional example that enables two-color printing using an impact type ink ribbon. In Figure 1, 1 has the upper half red (R),
It is an ink ribbon whose lower half is black (B), and 2 is a print head located opposite the ribbon 1.

In such a configuration, printing in two colors is possible by moving the ink ribbon 1 upward or downward to switch the position on the ribbon where it is impacted by the printing head 2. Furthermore, if the ink ribbon is divided into multiple colors instead of two upper and lower colors, printing in other colors becomes possible. However, in this method, the width of the ink ribbon becomes very wide, and the mechanical mechanism for controlling printing becomes very complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a color ink ribbon that does not have a wide width as an ink ribbon and does not require a complicated mechanical mechanism for printing control when used in a printer. .

The gist of the present invention is to sequentially apply multiple colors of ink in a fixed order along the feeding direction of the ink ribbon, and to detect the position of the print head relative to the color position of the ink applied to the ink ribbon. The present invention is capable of printing in a desired color by adding color position information to the ink ribbon and detecting this information to control the operation of the print head relative to the ribbon.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes an ink ribbon according to the present invention on which inks of multiple colors are sequentially applied in a fixed order in the feeding direction, and 11 denotes a ribbon 10.
12 indicates the direction in which the print head moves and impacts the ribbon 10; 13 indicates an index hole indicating the color position of the ink applied to the ink ribbon; 14;
15 is a detector for detecting the index hole 13; 16 is a processing circuit for the index hole position detection signal from the detector 15; 17 is a print head control circuit; 18 is a print head control circuit; The print information signal 19 coming from a control section (not shown) is also a color information signal.

Before explaining the circuit operation in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon 10 in FIG. 2 will be explained first. This ink ribbon 10 is coated with ink of a plurality of colors sequentially and regularly in a fixed order along the feeding direction of the ribbon. Here, hole (this is called index hole) 13
It has been established.

In the example shown in Figure 2, inks of three colors, magenta, cyan, and yellow (indicated by M, C, and Y, respectively) are applied cyclically and regularly in the order of M, C, and Y1. Index hole 13 is always placed at the M position to indicate the position of the group.
is provided.

Next, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 2 will be explained. While feeding the already explained ink ribbon 10 at a constant speed,
A detector 15 detects the relative position of the print head 11 with respect to the color position of the ink ribbon 10. To detect this hole position, for example, an LED (light emitting diode) or the like is illuminated on the back side of the ink ribbon 10, and light (this is the index signal 14) passing through the index hole 13 from the LED is used.
is detected using a photoelectric conversion element such as a photodiode as the detector 15. After position detection is performed in this manner, the position detection signal is processed by the position detection signal processing circuit 16 and input to the print head control circuit 17. Print head control circuit 17
Now, the signal from the position detection signal processing circuit 16,
A print head control signal is formed from a print information signal 18 indicating the characters to be printed and a color information signal 19 indicating the color of the print, and is sent to the print head 11 to print desired characters, etc. in a desired color. FIG. 2 shows how it is detected that the print head 11 is at a color position corresponding to magenta M, and the head 11 is driven to print in magenta.

Now, regarding the printing head 11, there are roughly two types, one of which is type-shaped and the other is dot-shaped. The printing head used here can be of either type, but if a type-type one is used, the ink ribbon 10 shown in FIG. 2 can only express three colors; In order to express N colors (N is any integer), it is necessary to apply N colors of ink to the ink ribbon. On the other hand, when using a dot-shaped printing head, in addition to the colors applied to the ink ribbon, the combination of
Double printing of yellow and magenta, or close printing of red, magenta and cyan twice,
Alternatively, it is possible to express blue by close printing, cyan and yellow twice, or green by close printing, all three colors overlapped, or black by close printing, using an ink ribbon as shown in Figure 2. can express 7 colors. Although only one print head is shown in FIG. 2, in the case of a dot-shaped ink ribbon, a plurality of print heads are usually provided in one vertical line, and even in that case, the ink ribbon according to the present invention Needless to say, is effective.

By the way, as for detecting the position of the print head relative to the ink ribbon, in Figure 2 we have explained an example using light and a hole called an index hole, but it is not necessarily necessary to detect the position using this method. For example, the index hole may be detected by a mechanical switch. In addition, in Fig. 2, one index hole is provided for one set of three color inks, but it is not necessarily necessary to provide one index hole for one set, and one index hole is provided for multiple inks. It is only logical that it is okay to set it up.
In addition, in Figure 2, the index hole indicating color position information is provided on the outside of the ink, but the color position information is not limited to this, and transparent parts or black parts may be provided between the inks. good. In short,
It is only necessary that the color position of the ink ribbon can be accurately detected using the color position information attached to each set of ink of a plurality of colors.

Also, when applying multiple colors of ink to the ink ribbon, instead of applying each ink all at once, if there is a part where no ink is applied between the inks, it is possible to accidentally print two colors at the same time. There's nothing to do. Furthermore, if the impact surface of the ink ribbon is coated, ink will not mix with the ink ribbon even when it is wound up.

Next, details of the print head control circuit 17 in FIG. 2 will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, 16 is a position detection signal processing circuit, 17 is a print head control circuit, 18 is a print information signal, 19 is a color information signal, 20 is a phase adjustment circuit, 21 is a 240° phase shift circuit, and 22 is a 120° shift circuit. The circuits 23 to 25 are gate circuits, 26 is a color information separation circuit, and 27 is a color switching circuit.

Explain circuit operation. The color information signal 19 is examined in a separation circuit 26, and if it is magenta, it is sent to output terminal M, and if it is cyan, it is sent to output terminal C.
If the color is red, signals are output to output terminals Y and M, respectively. On the other hand, the color position detection signal (in this case, the magenta M position detection signal) processed by the processing circuit 16 is subjected to the required phase adjustment in the phase adjustment circuit 20 (from the time when the index hole 13 is detected by the detector 15, After receiving a time delay until the color position M belonging to the hole 13 comes to a position facing the head 11, the color position M belonging to the hole 13 is directly transmitted to the gate circuit 25.
The gate circuit 24 is connected to the gate circuit 24 via the 120° phase shift circuit 22.
Further, the signal is input to the gate circuit 23 via the 240° phase shift circuit 21, and each gate circuit is opened. Thus, at the time the gate circuit 25 opens, the print head 11 is facing the magenta color position M on the moving ribbon, and at the time the gate circuit 24 opens, the print head 11 is facing the yellow color position next to magenta. Further, when the gate circuit 23 is opened, the print head 11 is arranged to face the adjacent cyan color position C. Also, depending on the print information 18, the color switching circuit 27
Terminals M, Y, and C are switched in synchronization with the opening of terminals 5, 24, and 23, respectively.

Therefore, when the color switching circuit 27 is connected to the terminal M and the gate 25 is opened, if a signal is output from the color information separation circuit 26 to its output terminal M, the print head 11 is driven to change the magenta color. is printed in color. If no signal is output to the output terminal M of the separation circuit 26, the print head 11
Of course, it is not driven. Color switching circuit 27
Following the switching operation, similar operations are performed thereafter.

As explained above, by using the color ink ribbon according to the present invention, there is an advantage that a color printer can be realized at low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the main parts of a conventional example of an impact type printer using an ink ribbon that enables two-color printing; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of the print head control circuit 17 in FIG. 2. Description of symbols, 10... Ink ribbon, 11... Print head, 13... Index hole, 14...
...Index signal, 15...Position detector, 16
...Position detection signal processing circuit, 17...Print head control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A set of multiple inks of different colors applied in a fixed order is repeatedly applied in a fixed order, and color position information indicating the position of a specific color in the set is provided for each m set (however, m A color ink ribbon characterized by adding one ink to a natural number).