JPH07314834A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely prevent improper use of a used cartridge by taking up a transfer material by rotating a paper winding shaft at taking up the transfer material when a detecting means detects a terminal end of the transfer material and taking the entire material from an extension shaft so as to house it into the cartridge. CONSTITUTION:In forming images, a paper P is conveyed along a conveying passage 1 and stopped at a position opposite to a thermal printer head 2 on a platen roller 9. At every transfer by an ink ribbon 3 on the paper P, the ribbon is taken up by a paper winding shaft 4 by predetermined quantities. In this case, when the ink ribbon 3 at an extension shaft 5 comes to an end, the rotational speed of the extension shaft 5 rises and an interval of waveforms to be outputted from an encoder becomes shorter. Then, an output signal of the encoder and a reference signal are compared at a CPU. When an end is determined, the extension shaft 5 is rotated so as to take up the ink ribbon 3 entirely by the paper winding shaft 4, and the ink ribbon 3 is entirely housed in a cartridge.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image using, for example, an ink ribbon cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink ribbon cartridge used in an image forming apparatus of this type has a winding shaft and a feeding shaft therein, and both ends of the ink ribbon are wound around the winding shaft and the feeding shaft. I am passing over between.

At the time of image formation, the thermal printer head is pressed against the paper through the ink ribbon, and the thermal printer head generates heat according to the image information, whereby the ink of the ink ribbon is melted and the paper is printed. An image is formed by adhesion.

Each time the ink is transferred onto the paper, the ink ribbon is taken up by the take-up shaft and taken out from the take-out shaft. By the way, when the ink ribbon is used up, it is necessary to replace the ink ribbon cartridge.

When the ink ribbon is used up, it is detected by the detecting means. For example, it is determined that the ink ribbon has been used by providing a non-application portion to which ink is not applied at the end portion of the ink ribbon and detecting the non-application portion with a sensor.

However, this detection method has a problem that the cost is increased because the non-coated portion has to be processed at the end portion of the ink ribbon. Therefore, a method of detecting the end portion of the ink ribbon from the rotation speed of the feeding shaft and determining that it has been used, that is, since the rotation speed of the feeding shaft increases as the remaining amount of the ink ribbon decreases,
Used is detected by detecting this rotation speed.

[0007]

However, in the method of detecting the end portion of the ink ribbon from the number of rotations of the feeding shaft, the end portion cannot be detected with high accuracy, so that it is necessary to allow the remaining ink ribbon to have a margin.

For this reason, even in the cartridge where the ink ribbon has been used, the ink ribbon is still hung between the feeding shaft and the winding shaft, and it is apparently used. There was a problem that I could not tell whether it was a cartridge.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the transfer material has been used up, the transfer material is completely wound around the winding shaft and the cover is wound.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be surely distinguished by being housed in a trench.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cartridge, a winding shaft and a feeding shaft disposed in the cartridge, and a drive for rotating the winding shaft. Means, a transfer material having both ends wound around the winding shaft and the feeding shaft and spanning between the two shafts, and being wound by rotation of the winding shaft, and detecting the end of the winding transfer material. And a control means which, when the detection means detects the end of the transfer material, rotationally drives the winding shaft to wind up all the transfer material from the feeding shaft and store the transfer material in the cartridge. It is equipped with.

Further, a plurality of cartridges and these cartridges are provided.
A take-up shaft and a pay-out shaft arranged in the cartridge, and a plurality of driving means for rotating the take-up shaft of each cartridge.
A transfer material whose both ends are wound around the winding shaft and the feeding shaft, and which are hung between the two shafts and wound by the winding shaft,
A plurality of detecting means for detecting the end of the transfer material to be taken up, and when the end of the transfer material of one of the plurality of cartridges is detected by the detecting means, the winding of all the cartridges. And a control means for rotating the shaft to wind up all the transfer material from the feeding shaft and storing the transfer material in the cartridge.

Further, a cartridge, a take-up shaft and a pay-out shaft arranged in the cartridge, drive means for rotating the take-up shaft, and both ends of the take-up shaft and the pay-out shaft are provided. A transfer material which is wound and spanned between both shafts, and which is wound by the rotation of the winding shaft; and a detection unit which detects the number of rotations of the feeding shaft and detects the end of the wound transfer material. , When this detecting means detects the end of the transfer material,
And a control means for rotatably driving the winding shaft to wind up the entire transfer material from the feeding shaft and storing the transfer material in the cartridge.

[0013]

In the winding of the transfer material, when the end of the transfer material is detected by the detecting means, the winding shaft is rotationally driven to completely wind the transfer material from the feeding shaft and store it in the cartridge. .

As a result, when the transfer material can be visually inspected from the outside of the cartridge, it can be judged as a usable cartridge, and when it cannot be visually inspected, it can be judged as a used cartridge, and the cartridge is erroneous. Can be prevented from use.

When a plurality of cartridges are provided, when any one of them is used, the transfer materials of all the cartridges are wound up and housed in the cartridge, and the plurality of cartridges are transferred. Replace the cartridge at the same time. As a result, the operating efficiency of the device is improved as compared with the case of replacing the cartridges one by one.

[0016]

The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 is a conveyance path for conveying a sheet P as a medium. A thermal printer head 2 as a recording head is provided in the transport path 1. A platen roller 9 is provided below the thermal printer head 2.
An ink ribbon 3 as a transfer material is interposed between the thermal printer head 2 and the platen roller 9. Both ends of the ink ribbon 3 are wound around a take-up shaft 4 and a pay-out shaft 5, and an intermediate part is guided by guide rollers 8, 8. A thermal printer head control circuit 6 is connected to the thermal printer head 2 and the thermal printer head control circuit 6 is connected to the thermal printer head control circuit 6.
A signal processing circuit 7 is connected to the round printer head control circuit 6.

Therefore, at the time of image formation, the sheet P is conveyed along the conveying path 1 by a conveying mechanism (not shown) and is stopped when it is positioned on the platen roller 9 and faces the thermal printer head 2. Then, the thermal printer head 2 is lowered and pressed against the paper P via the ink ribbon 3. At this time, the image data is sent to the thermal printer head 2 via the signal processing circuit 7 and the thermal printer head control circuit 6, and heat is generated based on this data. As a result, the ink of the ink ribbon 3 is melted and transferred to the paper P to form an image. Each time the ink is transferred onto the paper P, the ink ribbon 3 is wound up by a predetermined amount by the rotation of the winding shaft 4.

3 to 5 show a limbon cartridge 11 for accommodating the ink ribbon 3, and reference numeral 12 in the drawings denotes a cartridge case. This Cartridge Case 1
The take-up shaft 4 and the pay-out shaft 5 are arranged in the inside of the device 2, and sprockets 13 are attached to the ends of the take-up shaft 4 and the pay-out shaft 5, respectively. In addition, this cartridge case 1
The above-mentioned pair of guide rollers 8 and 8 are arranged in the inside of the unit 2. As shown in FIG. 5, elongated holes 12a, 12a are formed on the bottom surface of the cartridge case 12, and the ink ribbon 3 is exposed to the outside through the elongated holes 12a, 12a. There is.

When the ink ribbon 3 is wound up, however, the winding shaft 4 is rotationally driven by the driving means 21 described later, whereby the ink ribbon 3 is wound around the winding shaft 4 and is fed out from the feeding shaft 5. Be done.

FIG. 1 shows an end detecting device for the ink ribbon 3, and reference numeral 15 in the drawing denotes an encoder for detecting the number of rotations of the feeding shaft 5 when the ink ribbon 3 is wound up. The output from the encoder 15 is sent to the CPU 16. A clock IC 17 is connected to the CPU 16, and a reference signal is sent from the clock IC 17 to the CPU 16. In addition, the CPU 16
A control means 20 is connected to the drive means 2 and the drive means 2 for rotationally driving the winding shaft 4 and the feeding shaft 5 is connected to the control means 20.
1 is connected.

Therefore, when the ink ribbon 3 is wound up and the remaining amount of the ink ribbon 3 is large, that is,
When the amount of the ink ribbon 3 wound around the feeding shaft 5 is large, the number of rotations of the feeding shaft 5 is small and the waveform H output from the encoder 15 has a long interval as shown in FIG. It has become.

Further, when the ink ribbon 3 is continuously used and the amount of the ink ribbon 3 wound around the feeding shaft 5 is reduced and the end state is reached as shown in FIG. 6, the rotation speed of the feeding shaft 5 is increased. Rises and the waveform h output from the encoder 13 has a shorter interval (cycle) as shown in FIG.

This output waveform is interrupted by the CPU 16, and the CPU 16 outputs this output signal and the clock IC 17
It is compared with the reference signal sent from the device to determine whether it is the end or not. When the CPU 16 determines that the ink ribbon 3 is the end, the control means 20 causes the drive means 21 to rotationally drive the winding shaft 4 and the feeding shaft 5 to wind the ink ribbon 3 until the ink ribbon 3 is completely fed from the feeding shaft 5. Wind up on axis 4.

As a result, the ink ribbon 3 is completely covered.
It will be housed in the ridge 11. Therefore,
The used cartridge and the usable cartridge can be distinguished at a glance from the outside, that is, in the case of the usable cartridge, a part of the ink ribbon 3 is exposed to the outside of the cartridge 11, and the used cartridge is used. In the case of the cartridge 11, since the ink ribbon 3 is housed inside and not exposed to the outside, it can be distinguished at a glance and misuse can be prevented.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of the winding operation of the ink ribbon 3. The encoder value at the time of winding the ink ribbon 3 is input to the CPU 16,
If this encoder value is larger than the ribbon end value, that is, if the rotation speed of the payout shaft 5 is larger than the rotation speed of the ribbon end, the remaining ribbon is wound up, and when this winding operation is completed, The rotation drive of the winding shaft 4 is stopped.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but may be as shown in FIG.
The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 shows a plurality of ink ribbon cartridges 25A, 25B and 25C of different colors, which are connected to the CPU 16 to detect the number of rotations of each feeding shaft 5 by the encoders 15A and 15A. 15B, 15C
The CPU 16 calculates the number of revolutions or the cycle from the output of. Driving means 21A for causing the CPU 16 to rotate and drive the winding shaft 4 and the payout shaft 5 of each of the ink ribbon cartridges 25A, 25B, 25C via the control means 20.
21B and 21C are connected.

When any one of the ink ribbons 3a, 3b, 3c is used and detected by the CPU 16 when the ink ribbon cartridge 25A, 25B, 25C is used, the CPU 16 controls the CPU 16. Drive means 21A, 21B, 2 for all ink ribbon cartridges 25A, 25B, 25C
1C is operated to wind up all of the ink ribbons 3a, 3b, 3c, and ink ribbon cartridges 25A, 25
B and 25C are stored inside, and all the ink ribbon cartridges 25A, 25B and 25C are replaced at the same time.

In this way, the ink ribbon cartridge 2 is
When any one of the 5A, 25B, and 25C ink ribbons 3a, 3b, and 3c has been used, it is usually the case that one ink ribbon is wound up by winding up the ink ribbons of all the other ink ribbon cartridges. This is because when it is used, other ink ribbons will be used sooner or later.

Therefore, if one of the used ink ribbon cartridges is replaced with another of the other ink ribbon cartridges, the moving efficiency of the apparatus can be improved.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the detecting means detects the trailing end of the transfer material during winding of the transfer material, the winding shaft is rotationally driven to wind up the transfer material, and the transfer material is entirely fed out and stored inside the cartridge. Therefore, when the transfer material can be seen from the outside of the cartridge, it can be distinguished from the usable cartridge, and when the transfer material cannot be seen from the outside, it can be distinguished from the used cartridge.

Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent the misuse of the used cartridge. In addition, when multiple cartridges are provided, when any one of them is used,
Since the transfer materials of all other cartridges are wound up and a plurality of cartridges are exchanged at the same time, there is an effect that the operation efficiency of the apparatus can be improved as compared with the case where the cartridges are exchanged one by one. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a detection device that detects an end portion of an ink ribbon that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a front view showing an ink ribbon cartridge provided in the image forming apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the ink ribbon cartridge of FIG.

5 is a bottom view showing the ink ribbon cartridge of FIG. 3. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the end portion of the ink ribbon is detected by the detection device of FIG.

7 is a diagram showing a waveform detected by the detector of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detection waveform when the end portion of the ink ribbon of FIG. 6 is detected.

9 is a flow chart showing the operation after detection of the ink ribbon end portion of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus that is another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Cartridge, 4 ... Winding shaft, 5 ... Feeding shaft, 21 ...
Drive means, 3 ... Ink ribbon (transfer material), 16 ... CPU
(Detection means), 20 ... Control means, 21 ... Driving means.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 35/38 Z

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge, a take-up shaft and a pay-out shaft disposed in the cartridge, drive means for rotating the take-up shaft, and both ends of the take-up shaft and the pay-out shaft. A transfer material that is wound around the two shafts and is wound by the rotation of the winding shaft, a detecting unit that detects the end of the wound transfer material, and a detecting unit that detects the end of the transfer material. And a control means for rotating the winding shaft to wind up the entire transfer material from the feeding shaft and storing it in the cartridge. . 2. A plurality of cartridges, a winding shaft and a payout shaft arranged in these cartridges, a plurality of driving means for rotating the winding shafts of the respective cartridges, and these windings. Both ends of the take-up shaft and the pay-out shaft are wound around the take-up shaft and wound around the take-up shaft, the transfer material being wound by the take-up shaft, and a plurality of detection means for detecting the end of the wound transfer material, When the end of the transfer material of one of the plurality of cartridges is detected by the detecting means, the winding shafts of all the cartridges are rotationally driven to wind up all the transfer material from the feeding shaft. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that is housed in the cartridge. 3. A cartridge, a take-up shaft and a pay-out shaft arranged in the cartridge, drive means for rotating the take-up shaft, and both ends of the take-up shaft and the pay-out shaft. A transfer material that is wound and spanned between both shafts, and that is wound by the rotation of the winding shaft; and a detection unit that detects the number of revolutions of the feeding shaft and detects the end of the wound transfer material. When the detection means detects the end portion of the transfer material, the winding shaft is rotationally driven to wind up all the transfer material from the feeding shaft and store the transfer material in the cartridge. An image forming apparatus characterized by the following.