JPH0547662Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon identification device that is installed in a printing device such as a printer and that identifies the color of an ink ribbon.

[Conventional technology]

To identify whether the ink ribbon set in the printer is black only or multi-colored including black and other colors,
Some devices include a mechanical switch that detects whether the color is black, and a photosensor that detects what color it is if it is colored.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

By the way, the conventional ink ribbon identification device requires two detection parts, a mechanical switch and a photo sensor, which increases the number of parts, increases manufacturing costs, and furthermore complicates the control system and causes problems in terms of space. It was hot.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon identification device that can identify the color of an ink ribbon using one photosensor.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention includes one photosensor that receives light projected onto an ink ribbon and outputs a signal, and determines whether the signal output from this one photosensor includes a pulse or not. If a pulse is included, the number of pulses is detected, and if the number of detected pulses is greater than n, it is determined that it is a ribbon end.On the other hand, if the number of detected pulses is n or less, it is determined that it is a ribbon end. If the ribbon does not contain a pulse, it is determined that it is a black ribbon when the signal level is in the H state, and on the other hand, it is determined that it is a monochrome ribbon when the signal level is in the L state. and a second determining means that determines the color according to the number of pulses when the first determining means determines that the ribbon is a multicolor ribbon. .

[Effect]

The embodiment of the present invention has a structure as described above, in which light is projected from the light emitting part of one photosensor onto the ink ribbon, the light reflected from the ribbon is received by the light receiving part and a signal is output, and the received light signal is The type of ink ribbon is identified by the control means including the first discrimination means and the second discrimination means based on the presence or absence of pulses contained in the ink ribbon, the number of pulses, the received light signal level, etc. In comparison, the number of parts and manufacturing costs are reduced, the control system is simplified, and space is also reduced.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below based on the attached drawings.

Figures 1 to 5 are explanatory diagrams of embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the present invention, Figure 2 (a) is a plan view of the multi-colored ribbon, Figure (b) is an explanatory diagram of the received light signal, Figure 3 (a) is a plan view of the black ribbon, and Figure (b) is the same light received signal. FIG. 4A is a plan view of a monochrome ribbon, FIG.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an ink ribbon, 2 is a photosensor placed opposite the ribbon 1, and the sensor 2 is composed of a light emitting section 3 and a light receiving section 4;
The light is projected onto the ink ribbon 1, and the reflected light is received by a light receiving section 4 to output a light reception signal. Reference numeral 30 denotes a control means connected to the photosensor 2, which is composed of, for example, a microcomputer having logical judgment and storage functions, and includes a first discrimination means 31 for discriminating whether the ribbon is a black ribbon or a multicolor ribbon, and a multicolor ribbon. Second determining means 32 for determining what color it is if it is a ribbon
have.

In Figure 2, 1a is a multi-colored ribbon;
A marker 6 consisting of a number of stripes greater than a predetermined number n is provided on the end detection section 5. 7,
8 and 9 are A, B, and C color sections, and each section 7,
A smaller number of markers 6 than the above-mentioned n markers 6 are placed at the boundary between the numbers 8 and 9.

When light is projected onto the ribbon 1a from the light emitting section 3 of the photosensor 2, the light receiving section 4 receives the reflected light, and as shown in FIG. 10, sections 7, 8, 9
A high level signal 11 is output in response to the marker 6 of the end detection section 5, and more than n pulses 10 are output in response to the marker 6 of the end detection section 5.

In FIG. 3, 1b is a black ribbon, and more than n markers 14 are placed on the end detection section 13.

When light is projected onto the ribbon 1b from the light emitting section 3 of the sensor 2, the light receiving section 4 receives the reflected light,
As shown in FIG.
more than n pulses 1 corresponding to markers 14 of
Outputs 6.

In FIG. 4, 1c is a monochrome ribbon, and more than n markers 18 are placed on the end detection section 17.

When light is projected from the light emitting part 3 of the sensor 2 onto the ribbon 1e, the light receiving part 4 receives the reflected light,
As shown in FIG.
More than n pulses 20 are output corresponding to the marker 18 of 7.

Next, the ink ribbon identification operation performed by this ink ribbon identification device will be explained based on FIG.

First, as shown in step _S1 , the ink ribbon 1 is moved by (l+a), and during this time the photo sensor 2 is moved.
The light emitting section 3 projects light onto the ribbon 1, the reflected light is received, and the control means 30 is caused to output a signal. Next, the process moves to step _S2 , and the first determining means determines whether the signal sent from the photosensor 2 includes a pulse. If the determination in step _S2 is not satisfied, the process moves to step _S3 . In step _S3 , it is determined whether the signal level is high. When this determination is not satisfied, the ribbon 1 is the black ribbon 1 shown in FIG.
b. When satisfied, the ribbon 1 is identified as the monochrome ribbon 1c shown in FIG. 4A.
Further, if the determination in step _S2 described above is satisfied and the signal contains a pulse, the process moves to step _S4 ,
It is determined whether the number of pulses is greater than a predetermined value n. When this determination is satisfied, it is determined that the ribbon 1 has reached the end detection section. In addition, if the determination in step _S4 is not satisfied, the ribbon 1 is the multi-color ribbon 1 shown in FIG. 2A.
It is identified that it is a. When the multi-color ribbon 1a is identified, the second determining means 32 of the control means 30 determines whether the number of pulses is 3 or 1, although the procedure is not shown.
If it is 2, it is determined that it is A color, if it is 1, it is B color, and if it is 2, it is C color.

The ink ribbon identification device of the present invention has the above-described configuration, and the identification device of the present invention includes one photosensor 2 and steps S1 _{to S} for identifying the ribbon 1 according to the signal output from the sensor 2. ₄ , the control means 30 has a first discrimination means 31 and a second discrimination means 32, and does not require a conventional mechanical switch etc., thus reducing the number of parts and simplifying the control system. , resulting in lower manufacturing costs and less space.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, the ink ribbon identification device of the present invention has the following features:
Since it is composed of one photosensor and a control means that discriminates the signal of this photosensor according to the signal output by the sensor, the ink Identifies the type of ribbon, the color of the colored ribbon, and the end of the ribbon. Therefore, it is not necessary to use two photosensors to detect the color and ribbon end of a color ribbon as in the past, and the number of parts can be reduced, the control system can be simplified, and manufacturing costs can be reduced. It is possible to downsize the device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 5 are explanatory diagrams of embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the proposed device, Figure 2 (a) is a plan view of the multi-colored ribbon, Figure (b) is an explanatory diagram of the received light signal, Figure 3 (a) is a plan view of the black ribbon, and Figure (b) is the same light received signal. FIG. 4A is a plan view of a monochrome ribbon, FIG. 1... Ink ribbon, 1a... Multi-color ribbon, 1b... Black ribbon, 1c... Mono-color ribbon, 2... Photo sensor, 3... Light emitting part, 4...
Light receiving section, 5, 13, 17... End detection section, 6, 1
4, 18... Marker, 10, 16, 20... Pulse, 11, 19... High level signal, 15... Low level signal, 30... Control means, 31... First discrimination means, 32... Second discrimination means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] one photosensor that receives light projected onto an ink ribbon and outputs a signal; determines whether the signal output from this one photosensor includes pulses; detects the number of pulses if it includes pulses; If the number of detected pulses is more than n, it is determined that the ribbon is at the end. On the other hand, if the number of detected pulses is n or less, it is determined that it is a multicolor ribbon, and it is determined that the ribbon does not contain any pulses. In this case, the first determining means determines that the ribbon is a black ribbon when the level of the signal is in the H state, and determines that the ribbon is a monochrome ribbon when the level of the signal is in the L state; an ink ribbon identification device comprising: second discrimination means for discriminating colors according to the number of pulses when the ribbon is discriminated as a multicolor ribbon by the discrimination means;