JPH07266669A - Color ink cassette for thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save the ribbon of a color ink ribbon cassette by equalizing the length of a passage between a mark sensor setting position and a head setting position with that of ink areas. CONSTITUTION:In a color ink ribbon, a yellow ink area 25, a magenta ink area 26, and a cyan ink area 27 are arranged repeatedly. Besides these three color areas, a black ink area can be added. Two marks 28a is are formed in front of the yellow ink area, and one mark 28b is given to other color areas. A plurality of kinds of color ink ribbon cassette, in which the ink areas 25-27 have different lengths, are provided in order to eliminate the waste of the color' ink ribbon due to the different sizes of recording sheets. The length L2 between a head setting position P1 and a sensor setting position P2 is made equal to the length L1 of the ink areas 25-27 by adjusting the length of a passage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color ink ribbon cassette used in a serial type thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a serial type thermal transfer printer,
A color ink ribbon cassette is mounted on a reciprocally movable head carriage. A thermal head having a plurality of heating elements formed in the main scanning direction is attached to the head carriage, and while the head carriage moves in the sub scanning direction, the color ink ribbon pulled out from the color ink ribbon cassette is used as a recording sheet. Overlaid on (image-receiving paper),
The ink from the color ink ribbon is transferred to the recording paper by pressing and heating from behind. In the case of three color ink ribbons, after the head carriage reciprocates three times,
The recording paper is fed by about one line in the main scanning direction.

In the color ink ribbon cassette, two reels are rotatably accommodated in the cassette, and the color ink ribbon is pulled out from one reel and passes through the sensor set position and the headset position before the other reel. It is wound up on a reel. In this sensor set position,
A mark sensor provided on the head carriage is set, and a thermal head is set at the head set position.

For example, in the case of three colors, as shown in FIG. 13, a yellow ink area 3, a magenta ink area 4, and a cyan ink area 5 having a constant length are repeatedly formed on the color ink ribbon 2. . A mark 6a having two bars is formed in front of the yellow ink area 3, and a mark 6b having one bar is formed in front of the other ink areas. These marks 6a and 6b are detected by the mark sensor 7 of the head carriage, and thereby the ink area is cued so that the front end of the ink area faces the thermal head 8.

At present, a horizontally long A4 size color ink ribbon cassette is mainly used, and the length l1 of each ink area is 348 mm. The length 12 of the passage between the sensor set position and the headset position is 77 mm. When the recording of one line is completed, the mark sensor 7
Must be positioned before the next mark 6b, the maximum length available for recording one line is l3 (= l
1-12) is about 270 mm.

For example, when one line of yellow ink is recorded using the yellow ink area 3 and then one line of magenta ink is recorded using the magenta ink area 4, when the head carriage is returning. The color ink ribbon 2 is idly fed. During this idling, the mark sensor 7 detects the next mark 6b. After this detection, the color ink ribbon 2 is further fed by a distance corresponding to the length 12 of the passage between the sensor set position and the headset position, and the head portion of the magenta ink area 4 faces the thermal head 8. Let

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional color ink ribbon cassette, the color ink ribbon 2 is idly fed by at least the length l2, which is wasted. Actually, the margin length l4 is ensured in consideration of the slip between the color ink ribbon 2 and the recording paper, so the length (l2 + l4) is wasted. Furthermore,
After the mark is detected, the length is measured and then the feeding of the color ink ribbon is stopped. Therefore, a feeding amount measuring unit and the like are required, and feeding control becomes complicated.

In the thermal transfer printer, the size and shape of the color ink ribbon cassette that can be used is specified by the structure of the head carriage. For example, in a thermal transfer printer in which a color ink ribbon cassette for A4 size is set, the specified paper is A4 size, but A5 or A6 size recording paper can also be used. In the case of the recording paper having a small size, the length l3 used for printing one line is further shortened, so that there are many portions that are unnecessarily fed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a color ink ribbon cassette for a thermal transfer printer which can reduce the waste of the color ink ribbon.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a passage between a sensor set position and a headset position substantially matched with the length of an ink area. As a result, it is possible to reduce the idle feed amount for finding the beginning of the ink area.

Further, in order to eliminate the waste of the color ink ribbon which occurs when a recording paper of a size smaller than the specified paper is used, the recording paper should be gradually changed in size corresponding to the stepwise size.
It is better to use color ink ribbons with different ink area lengths. Since the shape and size of the color ink ribbon cassette that can be mounted on the head carriage is fixed, it is preferable to load color ink ribbons having different ink area lengths into the common cassette. In this case, if the sensor set position and the headset position are the same, it is necessary to secure a passage corresponding to the length of the ink area between them. This can be solved by providing a loop forming part between the sensor set position and the headset position.

The loop can be easily formed by providing a guide between two reels and hanging a color ink ribbon on the guide. It is also possible to provide a plurality of guides in the cassette in advance, select a guide according to the length of the ink area, and hang it on the color ink ribbon.

By changing the position of the sensor set according to the length of the ink area, it is possible to secure a passage corresponding to the length of the ink area.

As described above, when several color ink ribbon cassettes having different ink area lengths are prepared, since the external shapes and sizes of the cassettes are the same, they do not correspond to the size of the recording paper to be printed. It can lead to the waste of color ink ribbons when used incorrectly. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a code signal portion indicating the type of the color ink ribbon cassette in the cassette so that the optimum color ink ribbon cassette corresponding to the size of the recording paper can be used for printing. On the other hand, the thermal transfer printer is provided with a recording paper size designation key, and if the designated recording paper does not correspond to the type of color ink ribbon cassette read from the code signal section, a proper one should be used. It is good to display a warning.

[0015]

The color ink ribbon can be idly fed by the length of the path between the mark sensor and the next mark in front of it, so that the waste of the color ink ribbon can be reduced. Also, if a color ink ribbon cassette whose ink area length corresponds to the size of the recording paper is used, the mark sensor will be positioned immediately before the next mark, and the thermal head will also be positioned immediately before the next color ink area. Therefore, if you slightly feed the color ink ribbon,
The mark sensor detects the mark, and at the same time or immediately thereafter, the thermal head faces the leading portion of the ink area of the next color to be recorded. Therefore, the color ink ribbon need only be idly fed by a short distance at which the mark sensor detects the mark, so that the waste of the color ink ribbon can be further reduced.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 2, a color ink ribbon cassette 10 comprises a plastic cassette 11 in which two reels 12 and 13 are rotatably housed. A color ink ribbon 14 is wound around these reels 12 and 13 with their ends fixed. The color ink ribbon cassette 10 is a double track type capable of reciprocating the color ink ribbon 14 between the reel 12 and the reel 13.

Two notches 1 are formed on the front surface of the cassette 11.
5 and 16 are formed so that the thermal head can be inserted even when either the front or back of the cassette 11 is on the top. Therefore, in a thermal transfer printer having a thermal head whose recording width is almost half the width of the color ink ribbon 14, when the track on one side of the color ink ribbon 14 is used up, the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is turned upside down so that another side You can use any truck.
Of course, in the case of a thermal head whose recording width is almost equal to the width of the color ink ribbon 14, since two tracks are used at the same time, it is similar to the single track type in which the color ink ribbon 14 can be wound in only one direction. To be used.

Inserting the notches 15 and 16 respectively,
Slit 19a serving as the entrance and exit of the color ink ribbon 14
19d are formed on the cassette 11. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, sensor notches 21, 2 for inserting the mark sensor 20 are provided at the corners of the front surface of the cassette 11.
Two are provided. On both corners of the rear surface of the cassette 11,
A code signal unit 23 indicating the type of cassette is provided, and is used for automatic determination of whether or not the recording paper to be printed is appropriate. The code signal portion 23 indicates the type of cassette by the presence or absence of the three holes 23a to 23c. In addition to the code depending on the presence or absence of a hole, a combination of a reflective portion and a non-reflective portion or a combination of a conductive portion and a non-conductive portion may be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, a color ink ribbon 1
In No. 4, a yellow ink area 25, a magenta ink area 26, and a cyan ink area 27 are repeatedly formed. In addition to these three colors, four colors including a black ink area may be used. In front of the yellow ink area 25, a mark 28a having two bars and a mark 28b having one bar are provided respectively.

In order to eliminate waste of the color ink ribbon due to the difference in the size of the recording paper, each ink area 2
A plurality of types of color ink ribbon cassettes having different lengths L1 of 5 to 27 are prepared, and the most suitable one is used according to the recording paper to be printed. 5 for this length L1
There are 5 mm, 80 mm, 120 mm, 200 mm, etc.

As shown in FIG. 5, the color ink ribbon 14 pulled out from the reel 12 passes through a pair of guide pins 30 and 31 arranged close to the notch 21 and is sent out of the cassette 11 through the slit 19a. Be done. Then, passing through the notch 15, the cassette 19 is inserted from the slit 19b.
Step inside 1. Guide pins 32a to 32e are provided between the pair of reels 12 and 13, and those corresponding to the length of the ink area are used. In this example,
The color ink ribbon 14 is hooked on the guide pins 32d and 32e. Even if there are unused guide pins, all the guide pins are provided because they do not hinder the feeding of the color ink ribbon 14 and the cost is almost the same, but of course, unnecessary guide pins can be omitted. Good.

The color ink ribbon 14 which has rotated around the guide pin 32d comes out of the cassette 11 again through the slit 19c. Next, it passes through the notch 16 and enters the cassette 11 through the slit 19d. The color ink ribbon 14 that has entered the cassette 11 reaches the other reel 13 after passing through the guide pins 34 and 35 arranged in front of the notch 22, and is wound around the outer periphery thereof.

When the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is set on the head carriage 37, the thermal head 33 provided on the head carriage 37 goes into the notch 16. Then, at the time of printing, the color ink ribbon 14 is slightly pulled out and overlapped behind the recording paper 38, and the color ink ribbon 14 is heated by the plurality of heating elements 33a arranged in a line in the main scanning direction to be melted or softened. The ink is transferred onto the recording paper 38.

When the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is turned over and set on the head carriage 37, the thermal head 33 enters the notch 15 and the mark sensor 20 enters the notch 22. The color ink ribbon 14 is pulled out from the reel 13 and wound around the outer circumference of the reel 12 via the reverse path. A guide roller may be used instead of the guide pin.

At the time of printing, the color ink ribbon 14 is pressed against the recording paper 38 by the thermal head 33. In the path of the color ink ribbon 14 formed during this printing, the position facing the heating element 33a is the headset position P1, and the position facing the mark sensor 20 is the sensor set position P2. Since the retracted position of the thermal head 33 indicated by the dotted line and the print position indicated by the solid line are not so different in practice, the position of the thermal head 33 at the retracted position may be the headset position P1.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the distance L2 between the headset position P1 and the sensor set position P2 is adjusted by adjusting the length of the passage.
The length L1 is about 27. Further, since the color ink ribbon cassette corresponding to the recording width L3 of one line is selected and used, for example, at the time when the recording of cyan for one line is completed, as shown by the chain double-dashed line, the thermal head 33
Is near the end of the cyan ink area 27, and the mark sensor 20 is near the end of the yellow ink area 25.

Therefore, when the color ink ribbon 14 is fed by a short length L5, the mark sensor 20 detects the mark 28b. Immediately after detecting the mark 28b, if the feeding of the color ink ribbon 14 is stopped,
The thermal head 33 faces the leading portion of the yellow ink area 25. As a result, the ink area can be set to the beginning with a short length of idle feeding, and the waste of the color ink ribbon can be reduced.

The length L2 of the blank feed is determined by the marks 28a, 28.
Although only the recording area of b is required, the mark may pass through the mark sensor 20 during printing because the color ink ribbon 14 slips during printing. During printing, the detection of the mark sensor 20 is neglected by software, and in this case, all the ink areas to be printed next are idly fed. Therefore, the length L1 of the ink area is the length obtained by adding the maximum slip amount to the recording width L3 of one line.

3 to 5 show a thermal transfer printer using the color ink ribbon cassette of the present invention. The serial type thermal transfer printer 42 has a box-shaped printer main body 43, and the recording paper 38 is inserted from a paper feed port 44 formed in the upper portion thereof. This recording paper 3
8 is nipped by a pair of feed rollers 45 and 46 and is fed toward the head carriage 37. These feed rollers 45 and 46 are rotated by a pulse motor 47 during printing, and intermittently feed the recording paper 38 line by line in the arrow direction. The rotation of the pulse motor 47 is controlled by the controller 50 via the driver 48.

The head carriage 37 is formed with a pair of reel shafts 52 and 53. When the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is set, the reel shafts 52 and 53 are fitted to the hubs of the corresponding reels 12 and 13. To do. Further, the mark sensor 20 and the thermal head 33 are attached to the head carriage 37. The thermal head 33 is moved by a solenoid or the like between a print position where the color ink ribbon 14 is pressed against the recording paper 38 and a retracted position where the color ink ribbon 14 is separated from the recording paper 38.

The head carriage 37 is inserted into the guide rod 54 and is slidably supported by the guide rail 55. A part of the timing belt 56 is fixed to the head carriage 37. The timing belt 56 is wound around pulleys 57 and 58. One pulley 57 is connected to a pulse motor 60, and the rotation of the pulse motor 60 is controlled by a controller 50 via a driver 59. When the thermal head 33 moves to the print position, the recording paper 38 is pressed via the color ink ribbon 14. This recording paper 3
A platen 62 is arranged behind the recording paper 38 to receive the pressure and secure a proper contact pressure.

The printer body 43 is provided with a print key 65 for instructing the start of printing, a size designation key 66, and a display 67. This display 67
Displays warnings of different types of color ink ribbon cassettes and various troubles.

The controller 50 includes drivers 48, 5
9, 69, a head control unit 70, a mark determination unit 71, and a type determination unit 72 are connected. The driver 69 is a pulse motor (not shown) provided in the head carriage 37.
As is well known, this pulse motor is connected to
The reel shaft 53 is rotated. The head control unit 70 drives the thermal head 33 according to the image data for each color read from the frame memory 73. Image data for one frame, which is input from a still video camera or a video player, is written into the frame memory 73 by being divided for each color, and one line of image data for one line of the color to be printed at the time of printing is written. It is read separately.

The mark determination unit 71 includes a mark sensor 2
0 is connected. The mark determination unit 71 detects the passage of the mark, determines the type of the mark based on the number of black lines, and sends information to the controller 50. After detecting the mark, the controller 50 sends only the length L5 to locate the next ink area to be recorded. Further, since one line is recorded in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan, the controller 50 confirms at the start of recording one line from the type of mark whether or not the head of the yellow ink area 25 is being cued.

The type determination unit 72 is connected to a micro switch or a photo sensor (not shown) facing the code signal unit 23, and a signal indicating the presence or absence of a hole is input.
Based on this signal, the type determination unit 72 determines the type of the color ink ribbon cassette 10 and sends the type information to the controller 50. The controller 50 determines from the type information whether or not it corresponds to the specified type of recording paper, and if they do not match, the display 67 is displayed.
Warning is displayed.

FIG. 6 shows a code table. In this table, "0" has no holes and "1"
Indicates that there is a hole. 8 depending on the presence or absence of holes 23a to 23c
It can be divided into different types. For example, the hole 23a
If none of ~ 23c is present, it is type I. The type I contains a monochrome ink ribbon. In the type II, only the hole 23c is formed, and a color ink ribbon having an ink area length of 55 mm is stored in this hole. In addition, types VI to VIII are spares that are not used at this time.

The type I is a monochrome ink ribbon, for example, a black ink ribbon, and since it is not divided into ink areas, it can be used for printing on all recording sheets. The type II has a length of 55 mm in each ink area, and is used when the business card 75 shown in FIG.
Type III has a length of 80 mm for each ink area,
As shown in FIG. 8, it is used when recording on a postcard 76 arranged vertically. In Type IV, the length of each ink area is 200 mm, and as shown in FIG.
Used when recording vertically. Type V has the same length of each ink area as Type IV.
Used when recording on paper.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, from a still video camera or the like connected to the thermal transfer printer 42, image data for one frame is taken into the frame memory 73 in a state of being divided for each color. Next, depending on the type of recording paper to be printed, the size designation key 66
Slide to align with the mark indicating the type. The color ink ribbon cassette 10 corresponding to the recording paper is selected and set on the head carriage 37. During the setting of this color ink ribbon cassette 10, each reel 1
The hubs 2 and 13 are fitted to the reel shafts 52 and 53, respectively. The thermal head 33 enters the notch 16,
Then, the mark sensor 20 enters the notch 21.

The color ink ribbon cassette 10 set on the head carriage 37 has its code signal section 23.
The presence or absence of the three holes 23a to 23c constituting the above is respectively detected by the three sensors. The signals from these sensors are sent to the type determination unit 72, and the type of the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is determined with reference to the table shown in FIG. For example, the size designation key 66 selects a business card, but the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is type III.
In this case, the controller 50, as shown in FIG.
A warning is given on the display 67 so that the printing operation cannot be performed. In this warning, the message "Please replace the color ink ribbon cassette" is displayed. Further, a buzzer or the like may be used to give an alarm.

In this case, a type II color ink ribbon cassette having a corresponding ink area may be replaced. Therefore, since the size corresponding to the size of the recording paper is used, the length of the idle feeding is shortened and the waste of the color ink ribbon can be reduced.

When the proper color ink ribbon cassette 10 is set, when the print key 65 is operated, the controller 50 drives the pulse motor built in the head carriage 37 via the driver 69,
The reel 13 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5 to wind up the color ink ribbon 14. This color ink ribbon 14
When the mark sensor 20 detects the passage of a mark during the winding of the mark, a signal is sent to the mark determination unit 71.

Since the yellow ink area 25 is formed at the first position of the color ink ribbon 14, when the mark judging section 71 judges that it is the mark 28a, the color ink ribbon 14 is moved by the length L1. After sending, stop the pulse motor. As a result, the first one of the yellow ink areas 25 is indexed, and the head portion thereof faces the thermal head 33. If the mark determination unit 72 determines that it is the mark 28b,
Since it is a judgment error, the color ink ribbon 14 is rewound and then rewound to detect the mark. Even in this case, if the mark 28b is determined, the mark sensor 20 is broken or the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is broken.
This abnormality is displayed on the display 67.
Is displayed and the print is disabled.

Next, the controller 50 causes the driver 48 to
The pulse motor 47 is driven via the to rotate the pair of feed rollers 45 and 46. These feed rollers 45, 4
6 nip the recording paper 38 inserted from the paper feed port 44 and conveys it toward the head carriage 37. The head of the recording area of the recording paper 38 is the thermal head 3.
When facing 3, the pulse motor 47 stops rotating.

The controller 50 drives the solenoid to move the thermal head 33 toward the print position. By this movement, as shown in FIG. 5, the thermal head 33 slightly pulls out the color ink ribbons 14,
This is pressed against the recording paper 38.

The head controller 70 has a frame memory 73.
To read the image data of each pixel in the first row of the yellow image for each column, and send the image data of the pixels in each column to the head controller 70. The head control unit 70 converts image data of pixels in one column arranged in the main scanning direction into drive data. This drive data is sent to the thermal head 33,
The heat generation of the plurality of heating elements 33a arranged in a line is controlled. Each of the heating elements 33a selectively generates heat to heat the yellow ink area 25 of the color ink ribbon 14 from behind, and transfers the melted or softened yellow ink to the recording paper 38.

The head controller 70 causes each heating element 33a to generate heat so that the area of the ink dot recorded in each pixel changes according to the image data of each pixel. At the same time, the controller 50 drives the pulse motor 60 via the driver 59 to rotate the timing belt 56 in the clockwise direction. The rotation of the timing belt 56 causes the head carriage 37 to move in a constant amount in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow. In synchronization with the movement of the head carriage 37, the head carriage 3 is passed through the driver 69.
Rotate the pulse motor in 7 to move the color ink ribbon 1
Roll up 4 by a fixed amount.

In this way, while the head carriage 37 is moving in the sub-scanning direction and the color ink ribbon 14 is being wound up, one row of yellow images is recorded column by column. At the time when the recording of the first line is completed, the length of the ink area is approximately equal to the length of one line, so that the thermal head 3 can be inferred from FIG.
3 is near the end of the yellow ink area 25, and the mark sensor 20 is near the end of the magenta ink area 26.

When the recording of one line of the yellow image is completed, the movement of the head carriage 37 and the winding of the color ink ribbon 14 are temporarily stopped. After that, the thermal head 33 is moved to the retracted position, and then the pulse motor 60 is rotated in the reverse direction to return the head carriage 37 to the initial position.
At the same time, the pulse motor in the head carriage 37 is rotated to wind up the color ink ribbon 14. When the mark sensor 20 detects the passage of the mark 28b during the winding, the winding of the color ink ribbon 14 is completed. As a result, the second magenta ink area 26 is cued, and its leading portion faces the thermal head 33.

After moving the thermal head 33 toward the print position, the recording of the first line of the magenta image is performed. At this time, the head control unit 70 reads the image data of each pixel in the first row of the magenta image from the frame memory 73 for each column, converts the image data into drive data, and sends the drive data to the thermal head 33. Similar to the recording of the yellow image, the magenta ink area 26 is heated from behind to transfer the melted or softened magenta ink to the recording paper 38.

When the head carriage 37 is moved, a magenta image is recorded for each column, and when the recording of the first line is completed, the head carriage 37 is returned to the initial position, and the color in ribbon 14 is wound up to print the cyan ink. The ink area 27 is cued. Then, in the same procedure, the first row of the cyan image is sequentially recorded for each column.

By recording the three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, the recording of the first line of the full-color image is completed. As described above, returning the head carriage 37,
The color ink ribbon 14 is wound up. At the same time, the pulse motor 47 causes the pair of feed rollers 45, 46 to move.
Is rotated, and the recording paper 38 is fed by about one line in the main scanning direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.

Similarly to the procedure described above, the recording of the second line of the full-color image is performed by recording the three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan. Hereinafter, in the same manner, a full-color image is recorded on the recording paper 38 by the three-color line sequential recording.

In this embodiment, since the cassette is a double track type, the color ink ribbon 1 is attached to the reel 13.
When most of No. 4 is wound, the end mark of the color ink ribbon 14 is detected by the mark sensor 20. In this case, since the end of the color ink ribbon is displayed on the display 67, the color ink ribbon cassette 10 is removed from the head carriage 37, turned over, and then loaded again in the head carriage 37.

In the above embodiment, the loop forming portion is provided between the two reels 12 and 13 so as to correspond to the length of the ink area, and the passage of the color ink ribbon 14 is U-shaped. The guide pins or the guide rollers may be arranged in a zigzag shape, and the passage may be formed in a zigzag shape. In addition to changing the passage length in this way, the sensor set position may be changed.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show an embodiment in which a plurality of sensor set positions are provided and the one selected according to the length of the ink area is selected. The same reference numerals are attached. A plurality of sensor notches 82a to 82h are provided on the outer periphery of the cassette 81 of the color ink ribbon cassette 80. Notches 82a to 82d for these sensors and 82
e to 82h are symmetrical with respect to the center line of the cassette 81 so as to handle the reverse loading of the cassette 81. Further, inside the cassette 81, a plurality of guide pins 83a to 83i are provided so that the color ink ribbon 14 can pass in front of the respective sensor notches 82a to 82h.

The head carriage 85 is provided with four mark sensors 86a to 86d corresponding to the sensor notches 82a to 82d or 82e to 82h. In the state of FIG. 12, the mark sensors 86a to 86
d is set in each of the corresponding sensor notches 82a to 82d.

These four mark sensors 86a-8
6d is activated by a size designation key for designating the size of the recording paper or a signal from the type determination unit, which has a passage length corresponding to the length of the ink area. The head of each ink area is found by the signal from the activated mark sensor.

In the above embodiment, the ink of the color ink ribbon is melted and transferred to the recording paper, but the present invention can be applied to a sublimation type color ink ribbon cassette in which the ink is transferred by sublimation. You can

[0059]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the path between the sensor set position and the headset position is made to substantially match the length of the ink area, the mark sensor detects the next mark. It is sufficient to feed in blank until it is detected. Therefore, the idling amount is smaller than that of the conventional one, and the waste of the color ink ribbon can be reduced. If the length of the ink area is selected according to the size of the recording paper, the next mark will be positioned immediately before the sensor set position when the recording for one line is completed. Can be reduced.
Further, since the feeding of the color ink ribbons may be stopped immediately after detecting the mark, the feeding control mechanism becomes simple.

Further, since the loop forming portion is provided between the sensor set position and the headset position to secure the passage corresponding to the length of the ink area, the same size cassette can be used even if the ink area length is different. Can be used. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the cassette can be reduced, and even color ink ribbon cassettes of different types having different ink areas can be set on the head carriage.

If the passage length is changed between the sensor set position and the headset position according to the length of the ink area, the color ink ribbons having different ink area lengths can be loaded in the common cassette. You can

The color ink ribbon cassettes are sorted into a plurality of types based on the difference in the length of the ink area, and the code signal portion for representing the types is provided in the cassette, so that the color ink ribbon cassette corresponding to the size of the recording paper is It is possible to automatically determine whether or not it is being used. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an ink area having an ink area that is too long with respect to the size of the recording paper from being mistakenly used, thereby eliminating waste of the color ink ribbon.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a length of a passage formed between a sensor set position and a headset position and a length of an ink area.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a color ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a thermal transfer printer loaded with a color ink ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the color ink ribbon cassette set in the head carriage.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a table of a code signal section.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a printed business card.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a printed postcard.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing printed A4 plain paper.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for collating a recording sheet and a color ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a color ink ribbon cassette in which a plurality of sensor set positions are formed.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the color ink ribbon cassette set in the head carriage.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 1 in a conventional color ink ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10,80 Color ink ribbon cassette 11,81 Cassette 12,13 Reel 14 Color ink ribbon 12,86a to 86d Mark sensor 23 Code signal part 23a to 23c Hole 32a to 32e Guide pin for loop formation 33 Thermal head 37,85 Head carriage 38 Recording Paper 42 Thermal Transfer Printer 82a-82h Mark Sensor Notch P1 Headset Position P2 Sensor Set Position

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mark sensor of a thermal transfer printer and a thermal head when a first and a second reel are rotatably arranged in a cassette and a color ink ribbon is pulled out from the first reel and wound on a second reel. So that they pass through the sensor set position and the headset position, respectively, and the color ink ribbon,
In a color ink ribbon cassette for a thermal transfer printer, in which a plurality of types of ink areas are repeatedly formed at a predetermined pitch and a mark detected by a mark sensor is provided between each ink area, the sensor set position and the headset position A color ink ribbon cassette for a thermal transfer printer, characterized in that the passage between them is made to substantially match the length of the ink area. 2. The color ink ribbon cartridge for a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein a loop forming portion is provided between the sensor set position and the headset position to secure a passage corresponding to the length of the ink area. set. 3. The color ink ribbon cassette for a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the position of the sensor set is changed according to the length of the ink area. 4. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the color ink ribbon cassettes are classified according to the length of the ink area, and a code signal portion for indicating the type is provided in the cassette. Color ink ribbon cassette for use.