JPH07214849A - Control device of take-up of ink ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a control device of take-up of an ink ribbon which enables reduction of the cost by a simple construction. CONSTITUTION:On the occasion when ink of an ink ribbon 2 is set by rotating a take-up roll 2b by driving a motor 11 with a maximum power, the speed of carriage of the ink ribbon 2 is detected by an impeller 7, a sensor 8 and a CPU circuit 9. The CPU circuit 9 is equipped with a relationship table setting the relationship between the speed of carriage of the ink ribbon 2 in a setting operation and a power to be given to the motor 11 for making the speed of carriage of the ink ribbon 2 a prescribed one in printing, and the power corres- responding to the speed of carriage of the ink ribbon 2 in the setting operation obtained is read out therefrom. A drive circuit 10 is so controlled as to drive the motor 11 in the printing with the power obtained from the relationship table.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon winding control device used in a thermal transfer printer for controlling the ink ribbon transport speed during printing to be constant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thermal transfer printer is generally constructed as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the thermal head 3 is pressure-bonded to the recording medium 1 via the ink ribbon 2.
The ink ribbon 2 is fed from the feeding roll 2a and wound by the winding roll 2b. The ink applied to the ink ribbon 2 is transferred to the recording medium 1 by energizing the thermal head 3 in a state where the thermal head 3 is pressed against the recording medium 1 and transporting the recording medium 1 and the ink ribbon 2 in the directions of the arrows. It will be transferred and printed.

By the way, in the case of a color printer, as the ink ribbon 2, for example, a color image is formed by sequentially applying four color inks of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan) and K (black). To form. Then, Y, M, C, and K are sequentially printed on the recording medium 1. At this time, if the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 during printing is not constant, registration deviation occurs. Therefore, in FIG. 7, the ink ribbon 2 is provided downstream of the thermal head 3 in the transport direction of the ink ribbon 2.
A control roller 4 for controlling the conveyance speed of the control roller 4 and a pressure roller 5 that presses the ink ribbon 2 against the control roller 4 and follows the rotation of the control roller 4 are provided. The control roller 4 is driven by driving means such as a motor (not shown).

As described above, the conventional ink ribbon winding control device is constituted by the control roller 4.
It is possible to keep the feeding speed of the ink ribbon 2 constant by rotating the ink ribbon 2 at a constant speed. In order to prevent the ink ribbon 2 from loosening when the ink ribbon 2 is conveyed, the take-up roll 2b is rotationally driven by a driving unit (not shown) with a weak force such that the control roller 4 does not slip on the ink ribbon 2. To be done.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional ink ribbon winding control device, driving means such as a motor for driving the control roller 4 and a motor for driving the winding roll 2b are used. 2 drive means with one drive means or one drive means 2
There is a problem in that the device is mechanically complicated because it has to be distributed in two. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink ribbon winding control device capable of achieving cost reduction with a simple configuration.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention is as follows: (1) An ink ribbon fed from a feeding roll and wound by a winding roll, and the winding roll is rotated. In an ink ribbon take-up control device that controls a conveyance speed of the ink ribbon during printing in a thermal transfer printer including a driving motor, the motor is driven at a constant electric power to drive the take-up roll. Detection means for detecting the feeding speed of the ink ribbon when the ink of the ink ribbon is rotated to the beginning and the feeding speed of the ink ribbon obtained by the detecting means and the feeding of the ink ribbon during printing Relationship table that sets the relationship with the electric power to be given to the motor for keeping the speed constant, and the ink cueing operation of the ink ribbon In addition to driving the motor with the constant electric power, control means for controlling the motor to be driven with the electric power obtained from the relation table during printing is provided. Providing a winding control device,
(2) Maintaining a constant conveyance speed of the ink ribbon during printing in a thermal transfer type printer including an ink ribbon which is fed from a feeding roll and wound by a winding roll, and a motor which rotationally drives the winding roll In the ink ribbon winding control device for controlling as described above, detection means for detecting the winding diameter of the winding roll, and the winding diameter of the winding roll obtained by the detecting means and the ink ribbon during printing A constitution is provided in which a relation table that sets a relation with the electric power applied to the motor that keeps the conveyance speed constant, and control means that controls the motor to be driven by the electric power obtained by the relation table during printing The present invention provides an ink ribbon winding control device characterized by the above.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing an ink ribbon used in the ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a book. FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram for explaining the ink ribbon winding control device of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the same parts as those in FIG. 7 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, a thermal head 3 is pressure-bonded to a recording medium 1 via an ink ribbon 2. The ink ribbon 2 is fed from a feeding roll 2a and wound by a winding roll 2b that is driven to rotate by a motor 11. The ink applied to the ink ribbon 2 is transferred to the recording medium 1 by energizing the thermal head 3 in a state where the thermal head 3 is pressed against the recording medium 1 and transporting the recording medium 1 and the ink ribbon 2 in the directions of the arrows. It will be transferred and printed.

In the printer thus constructed,
What is needed is to keep the feeding speed of the ink ribbon 2 during printing constant. A constant force is applied to the winding roll 2b,
That is, the motor 11 has a constant power (for example, the rated maximum power).
When driven as, the motor 11 has sufficient torque to wind up the ink ribbon 2, so that the take-up roll 2
The rotation speed of b is constant. The conveyance speed of the ink ribbon 2 is proportional to the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b as shown in FIG. Therefore, if the winding roll 2b is always driven by the motor 11 with a constant electric power, the conveying speed of the ink ribbon 2 during printing cannot be constant.

Therefore, in order to keep the feeding speed of the ink ribbon 2 constant during printing, the electric power applied to the motor 11 is reduced according to the feeding state of the ink ribbon 2 (depending on how much the ink ribbon 2 is fed). I understand that I should do it. Since the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 and the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b are in a proportional relationship as described above, the motor 1
The conveyance speed of the ink ribbon 2 when the ink ribbon 2 is driven with 1 as a constant electric power (maximum electric power), or
If the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b is known, how much the ink ribbon 2 has been conveyed can be known. In this embodiment, an example in which the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 is obtained and the electric power applied to the motor 11 is controlled will be described. If the relationship between the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon 2 when the motor 11 is driven with the maximum electric power and the electric power applied to the motor 11 during printing is set as shown in FIG. 6, that is, the motor 11 is set as the conveyance speed increases. If the applied power is reduced, the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon 2 during printing can be made constant.

Now, the ink ribbon 2 will be described. The ink ribbon 2 is Y, M, C, K as shown in FIG.
The ink of four colors is sequentially applied. Then, in actual printing, as shown in FIG. 3, a range surrounded by a broken line with a margin larger than the range of one color of ink is used. The maximum print length for one color is tens of mm shorter than the length for one color of ink. That is, when the printing of the first color is completed at the position of the broken line on the trailing edge side, the ink ribbon 2 is conveyed by the distance h to the position of the broken line on the leading side of the next color, and the printing of the second color is started.

When printing is performed using such an ink ribbon 2, first, the yellow cue is performed. This cueing is performed by the following method in this embodiment. The head of cyan is detected by utilizing the fact that red light transmits magenta but not cyan, and then the ink ribbon 2 is conveyed by a distance to the head position of the yellow that is known in advance. To cue. Of course, a method of attaching a mark to the ink ribbon 2 and detecting the mark may be used. After printing the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are sequentially printed at the beginning (broken line position on the leading side in FIG. 3). At the time of this cueing, the winding roll 2b is rotationally driven with the motor 11 having a constant electric power (maximum electric power). Therefore, if the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 is obtained during the indexing operation, the electric power to be given to the motor 11 to keep the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 during printing constant can be obtained. It is convenient to increase the speed of a series of printing operations by driving the take-up roll 2b with the motor 11 at the rated maximum power at the time of cueing.

Then, in the ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention, the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 is obtained as follows,
The winding roll 2b is controlled and driven. In FIG. 1, a roller 6 that rotates with the conveyance of the ink ribbon 2 is provided on the upstream side of the thermal head 3 in the conveyance direction of the ink ribbon 2, and an impeller 7 is provided at the end of the roller 6. Is attached. Immediately above the impeller 7 is provided a sensor 8 which has a recess in the center and generates a pulse each time the blade of the impeller 7 passes through the recess. Therefore, when the ink ribbon 2 is conveyed, the impeller 7 rotates and outputs a pulse corresponding to the rotation amount, that is, the movement amount of the ink ribbon 2. This pulse is input to the CPU circuit 9. The CPU circuit 9 counts the intervals of the input pulses,
The moving speed of the ink ribbon 2 is detected. That is, the impeller 7,
The sensor 8 and the CPU circuit 9 operate as means for detecting the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2.

The CPU circuit 9 includes a motor 11 and a transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 during a cueing operation which is created in advance.
When the CPU circuit 9 detects the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2, the CPU circuit 9 supplies the drive circuit 10 with information about the power to be supplied to the motor 11 corresponding to the detected transport speed of the ink ribbon 2. During the ink cueing operation of the ink ribbon 2, the CPU circuit 9 commands the drive circuit 10 to drive the motor 11 with the maximum electric power. Then, the drive circuit 10, which is a control means for controlling the drive of the motor 11, controls the motor 11 to be driven with the maximum electric power during the ink cueing operation of the ink ribbon 2. Further, during printing, the motor 11 is controlled to be driven by the electric power set in the relation table, so that the feeding speed of the ink ribbon 2 is constant regardless of the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b.

The relationship between the time and the electric power to the motor 11 in a series of printing operations by a printer equipped with such an ink ribbon winding control device is as shown in FIG. As described above, the motor 11 is used when the ink ribbon 2 is cued.
Is used as the maximum electric power to drive the winding roll 2b to rotate. At this time, the moving speed of the ink ribbon 2 is detected by the conveying speed detecting means, and in the printing operation, the motor 11 is driven by the electric power obtained from the relation table provided in the CPU circuit 9 to rotationally drive the winding roll 2b. To do. It can be seen that the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b increases with the lapse of time, and accordingly the electric power to the motor 11 in the printing operation decreases. If the relationship between the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon 2 when the motor 11 is driven with a constant power and the power supplied to the motor 11 during printing is set to, for example, 10 levels, the motor 11 in the printing operation shown in FIG. Electric power will be reduced in 10 steps. Of course, the number of stages in the relation table may be set appropriately.

As another embodiment, as described above,
Similarly, even if the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b is detected, the conveying speed of the ink ribbon 2 during printing can be made constant. The means for detecting the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b can be easily realized mechanically or electronically. In this case, the CPU circuit 9 may be provided with a relationship table that sets the relationship between the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b and the power supplied to the motor 11 during printing.

According to the ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention having such a structure, it is not necessary to control the ink ribbon winding by the control roller 4 which has been used conventionally.
Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a motor different from the motor 11 for driving the take-up roll 2b or to divide the driving force of the motor 11 into two, so that the device is not mechanically complicated and inexpensive. A thermal transfer printer can be realized.
Even if the ink ribbons 2 having different characteristics are used,
This can be dealt with by changing the relationship table. Further, since the transport speed of the ink ribbon 2 and the winding diameter of the winding roll 2b are constantly detected, the ink ribbon can be easily restarted even if it is replaced during the process.

[0018]

As described above in detail, in the ink ribbon winding control device of the present invention, when the motor is driven with a constant electric power to rotate the winding roll and the ink of the ink ribbon is cueed. A detecting means for detecting the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon or the winding diameter of the take-up roll is provided, and the ink ribbon conveying speed (or the winding diameter of the take-up roll) obtained by this detecting means and during printing. A relation table is set that sets the relation with the electric power applied to the motor that keeps the ink ribbon conveyance speed constant, and the motor is driven by the electric power obtained from the relation table during printing. It is not necessary to provide a control roller for controlling the winding. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide a motor for driving the control roller, it is possible to provide an inexpensive ink ribbon winding control device without mechanically complicating the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an ink ribbon used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an ink ribbon used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 recording medium 2 ink ribbon 2a feeding roll 2b winding roll 3 thermal head 6 roller 7 impeller 8 sensor 9 CPU circuit 10 drive circuit (control means) 11 motor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A constant transfer speed of the ink ribbon during printing in a thermal transfer printer including an ink ribbon which is fed from a feeding roll and wound by a winding roll, and a motor which rotationally drives the winding roll. In an ink ribbon winding control device for controlling to keep the ink ribbon, when the motor is driven with a constant power to rotate the winding roll to eject the ink of the ink ribbon, the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon is detected. A relation table that sets the relation between the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon obtained by the detection means and the electric power supplied to the motor that keeps the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon constant during printing; During the ink cueing operation of the ink ribbon, the motor is driven with the constant electric power, and Winding control device for the ink ribbon, characterized in that which is configured by providing a control means for controlling to drive the motor by electric power obtained by the relationship tables. 2. A conveyance speed of the ink ribbon during printing in a thermal transfer type printer having an ink ribbon which is fed from a feeding roll and wound by a winding roll, and a motor which rotationally drives the winding roll. In a take-up control device for an ink ribbon that controls to keep the take-up roll, detecting means for detecting the take-up diameter of the take-up roll, the take-up diameter of the take-up roll obtained by the detecting means, and the ink during printing. Provided are a relation table that sets a relation with the electric power to be given to the motor that keeps the ribbon conveyance speed constant, and control means that controls the motor to be driven by the electric power obtained by the relation table during printing. An ink ribbon winding control device characterized by being configured as follows.