JPH05318896A - Device for detecting number of times ink ribbon is used - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To indicate appropriately the need to replace the ink ribbon, by detecting the number of times the repeatedly-printable ink ribbon has been used. CONSTITUTION:When slits 13 as a mark indicating the end of the printable part 12 of an ink ribbon 11 pass light from a photointerrupter 14, the interrupter 14 is turned on. A counter 15 counts the number of times that photointerrupter 14 is turned on; the print control part 16 of a thermal transfer printer reads the count value of the counter 15 to detect the number of times that printing is carried out on the same side of the ink rubbon 11, and when the number of times it is used reaches the predetermined number of times, generates a warning signal to indicate the termination. It may let the user know the remaining number of times that the ink ribbon can be used, by displaying each time the count value of the counter 15 on a display provided on an ink ribbon cassette.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for detecting the number of times an ink ribbon can be used repeatedly, such as a personal computer or a word processor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows an apparatus for clearly indicating the number of times an ink ribbon that can be repeatedly used in a conventional thermal transfer printer is used. In FIG. 3, 1 is an ink ribbon cassette of a thermal transfer printer, 2 is a seal for checking the number of times the ink ribbon cassette 1 has been pasted on the surface, and 3 is an ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly.

Next, the operation of the above conventional example will be described.
When the print control unit of the thermal transfer printer notifies the user that the printable portion of the ink ribbon 2 is exhausted, the user attaches the ribbon end to the sticker 2 for checking the number of times the ink ribbon cassette 1 is pasted on the surface. Enter the number of times that occurred.

As described above, in the ink ribbon which can be repeatedly used in the conventional thermal transfer printer, the user can know the time to replace the ink ribbon by clearly indicating the number of times the ink ribbon is reciprocated on the ink ribbon cassette. It is like this.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method of knowing the replacement time of the ink ribbon is extremely primitive, and when the user fails to check, the number of times the ink ribbon is used is clearly indicated. There was a problem that could not be a reliable value.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem and is excellent in being able to detect the correct number of times the ink ribbon is used and to notify the user of the proper time to replace the ink ribbon. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink ribbon use frequency detecting device.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mark indicating the end of a printable portion on a reusable ink ribbon in an ink ribbon cassette, and a detector for detecting this mark. And a counter for receiving the output of the detector and counting the number of times of detection, and a control means for warning the use of the ink ribbon based on the value of the counter.

[0008]

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to know the number of times the ink ribbon has been used by counting the end mark of the ink ribbon printable portion. This has the effect of being able to notify the replacement time.

[0009]

1 shows the structure of a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 11 is an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer, 12 is a printable portion of the ink ribbon 11, 13 is a slit that is a mark indicating the end of the printable portion 12 of the ink ribbon 11, and 14 is a slit 13. Is a photo interrupter for. Reference numeral 15 is a counter for counting the ON output of the photo interrupter 14, and the value of the counter 15 is non-volatile. Reference numeral 16 is a print control unit of the thermal transfer printer, to which the output of the photo interrupter 14 which is a notification of the end of the printable portion 12 of the ink ribbon 11 is connected, and the count value of the counter 15 can be read. The ink ribbon 11 is sent in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with printing.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
In the above-described embodiment, in the printable portion 12 of the ink ribbon 11, the ink ribbon 11 is the photo interrupter 14.
The output of the photo interrupter 14 is in an off state because the light of the above is blocked. However, when the ink ribbon 11 is sent in the direction of the arrow by printing and the slit 13 indicating the end of the printable portion of the ink ribbon 11 is in a state of passing the light of the photo interrupter 14, the output of the photo interrupter 14 is turned on. The ink ribbon 11 serves as a signal source for notifying that printing cannot be performed any more. The output of the photo interrupter 14 is the counter 1
5, the counter 15 counts the number of times the photo interrupter 14 is turned on. Print control unit 1
6 receives the output of the photo interrupter 14, and when it knows that the ink ribbon 11 cannot be printed any more, the count value of the counter 15 is read and the slit 13
Is detected, that is, how many times the ink ribbon 11 has used the same surface for printing, and when the number reaches a preset number, a warning signal is issued to notify the user.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 21 is an ink ribbon of a thermal transfer printer, 22 is a printable portion of the ink ribbon 21, 23 is a slit which is a mark indicating the end of the printable portion 22 of the ink ribbon 21, and 24 is a slit 23.
It is a photo interrupter for detecting. Reference numeral 25 is a counter for counting the ON output of the photo interrupter 24, and the value of the counter 25 is non-volatile. Reference numeral 26 denotes a print controller of the thermal transfer printer, which is the ink ribbon 21.
The output of the photo-interrupter 24, which is a signal of the end of the printable portion 22 of FIG. Reference numeral 27 is a display attached to the ink ribbon cassette for the user to read the count value of the counter 25. The ink ribbon 21 is sent in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with printing.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
In the above embodiment, in the printable portion 12 of the ink ribbon 21, the ink ribbon 22 is the photo interrupter 2.
Since the light of No. 4 is blocked, the output of the photo interrupter 24 is off. When the scale is printed, the ink ribbon 21 is sent in the direction of the arrow, and when the slit 23 indicating the end of the printable portion of the ink ribbon 21 is in a state of passing the light of the photo interrupter 24, the output of the photo interrupter 24 is turned on. And the ink ribbon 21
Is a signal source indicating that printing is no longer possible. The output of the photo interrupter 24 is connected to a counter 25, and the counter 25 counts the number of times the photo interrupter 24 is turned on. When the print control unit 26 receives the output of the photo interrupter 24 and knows that the ink ribbon 21 cannot be printed any more, the print control unit 26 reads the count value of the counter 25 and the slit 2
It is detected how many times 3 is counted, that is, how many times the ink ribbon 21 has used the same surface for printing, and when the number of times reaches a preset number, a warning signal is issued to inform the user. In addition, the count value of the counter 25 is displayed on the display 27 each time the count is performed, and the user is informed of the number of times the ink ribbon 21 has been used and how many more times the ink ribbon 21 can be used, so that the replacement ribbon can be ordered earlier. ..

As described above, according to the above-described embodiments, the slits 13 and 23, which are marks indicating the ends of the printable portions 12 and 22 of the ink ribbons 11 and 21, are detected by the photo interrupters 14 and 24, and the slits are detected. By counting the number of detections of 13 and 23 by the counters 15 and 25, the number of times of using the same surface of the ink ribbon can be detected. In each of the above embodiments, the counter 15,
The count value of 25 is non-volatile, and even if the ribbon cassette is removed from the thermal transfer printer, the count value is retained until the next use.

In the above embodiment, the mark indicating the end of the ink ribbon is a slit and this is detected by the photo interrupter. However, other detectable mark may be used instead of the slit, and the detector may be a proximity switch or the like. Good.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, the present invention detects the mark indicating the end of the printable portion of the ink ribbon, and counts the number of detections of this mark to determine the number of times the same surface is used. This has the effect of being able to detect and notify the user of the proper time to replace the ink ribbon. Therefore, there is an advantage that a flexible man-machine interface can be configured in consideration of user's usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an ink ribbon use frequency detection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an ink ribbon use frequency detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an ink ribbon cassette including a conventional ink ribbon use frequency indicating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 21 Ink ribbon 12, 22 Printable part of ink ribbon 13, 23 Slit (mark) indicating the end of printable part of ink ribbon 14, 24 Photo interrupter for detecting slit 15, 25 On output of photo interrupter Counting counter 16,26 Print control device 27 Display

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mark for indicating the end of a printable portion is provided on a reusable ink ribbon in an ink ribbon cassette, a detector for detecting the mark, and a count for counting the number of detections by receiving the output of the detector. And a control means for warning the use of the ink ribbon based on the value of the counter. 2. The ink ribbon use frequency detecting device according to claim 1, wherein a mark indicating the end of the printable portion of the ink ribbon is formed by a slit, and a photo interrupter is used as a detector for detecting the slit. 3. The ink ribbon use frequency detecting device according to claim 1, further comprising a display for visually displaying the value of the counter.